Stalwart Perry Township trustee Dan “Carp” Combs dies at 73

Dan “Carp” Combs, who served as Perry Township trustee in Monroe County for nearly four decades, has died, several sources have confirmed. He was 73.

Combs first took office as Perry Township trustee in 1986, beginning a tenure that made him one of the longest-serving elected officials in Monroe County history.

This year was the final year of Combs’s 10th four-year term. The city of Bloomington is essentially split north-south between Bloomington and Perry townships.

As township trustee, Combs was responsible for administering township assistance, including help with housing, utilities, food, and burial expenses, and for overseeing day-to-day township operations. Over the years, his office assisted thousands of township residents facing financial or personal crises.

His formal education background was a good fit for the job of a township trustee. In an oral history of work by township officials in the aftermath of the May 16, 2025 tornado that ripped through Perry Township, Combs described his own educational training like this:

[M]y professional training is in Social Sciences and Social Science Education. Two of the degrees I have earned are Social Studies Education, and a Masters of Arts in Teaching History. My first degree had no major but instead comprised five “Areas of Concentration,” among them History, Folklore, Government, and English Literature.

Combs gave that background to explain why it was natural for him to look for a way to capture the memories of everyone in the township office who was involved in last year’s post-tornado recovery work. Those memories were preserved in the oral history project he directed.

A prolific writer on social media, last year’s tornado was the topic of his next-to-last Facebook post on Jan. 5:

Do you recall that little F1 Tornado episode last spring where over 50 residences and living units in Perry Township were made uninhabitable and another 40 or so received serious wind modifications? Plus there were multiple living units in Van Buren Township we didn’t count as we were busy enough with our own disaster?

Do you also recall the Red Cross Emergency Shelter closing after just four nights, leaving Perry Township as the only governmental unit providing any form of emergency housing and necessary life needs for those displaced by the storm?

In 2015, Combs was named Trustee of the Year by the Indiana Township Association.

Combs was first elected to the post of township trustee in 1986, winning over Republican incumbent Randy Sciscoe by 12 votes—4,439 to 4,427.

Combs was a Democrat, so it will now be up to the Monroe County Democratic Party to hold a caucus to fill the vacancy through the end of this year. The caucus will likely be scheduled for late January. Anyone who wants to serve beyond the end of 2026 as Perry Township trustee, including the person selected by the caucus, will have to file all the paperwork and stand as a candidate for primary and general elections.

In 1995, Combs briefly considered a run for mayor of Bloomington, but when Charlotte Zietlow announced her intentions to run, Combs withdrew saying, “I’m folding my tent,” according to Herald-Times reporting of that era. Combs apparently meant it literally—because the H-T reported Combs had pitched a tent behind city hall to help establish residency. He’s quoted in the H-T report saying “The thing is that Charlotte’s platform is my platform.” The 1995 mayoral election was won by John Fernandez.

Yesterday’s Facebook post by Combs about last year’s tornado kicks out like this:

You might also ask your local elected-officials if anybody has made any new plans on the off chance a tornado or cluster of tornadoes comes calling this spring, unless, of course, you enjoy sleeping in your car or under bushes.