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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowLongtime Indiana Beach amusement park owner Thomas Spackman has died at the age of 100.
A funeral home says Spackman died Monday at a Monticello nursing home.
His father, Earl, founded the Ideal Beach park along Lake Shafer near Monticello in 1926. Spackman became the park's CEO in 1945 and changed the name to Indiana Beach in 1952.
He added numerous rides at the park that became known for its commercial jingle "There's more than corn in Indiana." Indiana Beach, about 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis, was drawing roughly 750,000 visitors a year when the Spackman family sold it in 2008.
White County Community Foundation director Leslie Goss told the Journal & Courier that Spackman was always willing to take risks to improve the park.
Spackman graduated from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis before earning a business degree at Indiana University in 1937.
Spackman's funeral is Friday at Monticello Christian Church.
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