John Emmett Layden Iii

John Emmett Layden III, 80, Indianapolis, passed away on March 26 after a long illness. He retired as CEO of technology firm Time Compression Strategies in 2019 and continued to act as an advisor to the company. He was a longtime parishioner of St. Lawrence Catholic Church, where he served as an usher and on the finance committee and was a fourth-degree knight in the Knights of Columbus St. Joseph Council #5290. A dedicated husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, and brother, John leaves behind many who will miss his generosity, good humor, and intelligence.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Theresa (Miller) Layden; daughters Katie Robbins of Fishers and Sarah Layden (Tom Murphy) of Indianapolis; grandchildren Olivia and Audrey Robbins, and Trevor and Brendan Murphy; brother David Layden of Indianapolis; and sisters Mary Anne Layden of Philadelphia and Marcia Fisher of Cary, N.C. He was preceded in death by a sister, Rita Buhr, in 2019.

The oldest of five children, John was born to John Layden Jr. and June (Venters) Layden in Lafayette, Indiana on January 18, 1940. They passed away in 1980 and 1993, respectively. He graduated from Rensselaer High School in 1958 and enjoyed returning for class reunions. John and Terri met as students at Purdue University, where he earned a B.S. in electrical engineering and she earned a B.A. in English. He went on to receive an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Executive Program.) He was a nationally recognized supply chain expert and former SAP executive. He spent 22 years as an engineer, executive and board member of three Fortune 200 manufacturing companies, and another 20 years in enterprise software. He authored over 40 articles and papers on the theory and practice of manufacturing, supply chain operations, streaming analytics and system security. He was a guest lecturer in the MBA programs of Villanova University, Columbia University, New York University, Ball State University, Indiana University, and others. John and his brother David collaborated on the Ancelus data management system, the fastest nanosecond database on the market.

In John’s younger years, he completed over 500 jumps as a skydiver and raced sailboats on Lake Michigan. He studied and trained for his pilot’s license in his 50s and was an active pilot until 2012. His “casual” interests (meaning he read everything he could on the subject) included King Arthur, ancient civilizations, the cosmos, quantum physics, and Biblical mysteries such as the debate over the author of the Gospel of John. He loved a good debate, as shown in his PowerPoint presentation on the subject: “It’s Not John.” He concocted regular science experiments for his four grandchildren, who shared in his delight at all the wonder in the world.

A memorial Mass will be held at a later date.