Phyllis E. Leininger

Phyllis Elaine (Mahan) Leininger, pianist, teacher, Pastor’s spouse, author, and long-time Camp Mack Office Manager, passed away at Greencroft Retirement Center on Monday, February 19, 2024.  She was 80 years old.

Born at the hospital at Warren, Ohio, she grew up in the country, drinking milk from the family goats until the goat flock grew enough to provide funds to purchase cows. She never remembered a time that she was not afraid of chickens.  Her brother loved to chase her with chickens.  A chicken under his arm, he even chased her into the house.  Phyllis would run to her mother for protection. If her mother were sewing, Phyllis would try to hide in front of her mother’s feet under the sewing machine.

Phyllis attended all 12 grades (there was no kindergarten) at Bristol School. She played for choirs and accompanied many soloists for contests.

As a 7th grader, at age 12, she became the Sunday morning worship pianist for the Bristolville Church of the Brethren. She first played for a wedding at age 14 when an old pump organ was moved into the church for the occasion.

By her senior year of high school she was teaching private piano students at her home. While a music major at the Defiance College, Phyllis taught piano to non-music majors whom faculty referred to her when their schedules were full.

During the fall of her freshman year at the Defiance College, she was playing the organ at the Poplar Ridge Church of the Brethren near Defiance, Ohio on a Sunday morning when Verne Henry Leininger, home for the weekend from Bethany Theological Seminary, saw her at his home church.  That was the beginning of a long relationship and over fifty years together in ministry.

After their wedding on June 22, 1963, and their graduations from Seminary and College, they served eight different congregations in Ohio, Maryland and Indiana.

Phyllis taught music for grades one through four at Ada Ohio Exempted Village School during their first pastorate.  She taught music in grades five through eight during their time in the Southern Ohio District, and then in Garrett County Maryland she taught kindergarten and first grades at Broadford Elementary.  Wherever she lived, Phyllis always had a number of piano students after school and/or on Saturdays.

All three of their children were born to Phyllis and Verne during their first two pastorates. Sons, Verne Edward Leininger and John Henry Leininger were born at Bluffton, Ohio during the County Line Pastorate. Barbara Jean Leininger was born at Greenville, Ohio during the Prices Creek Pastorate.

These first two pastorates provided parsonages next to the church.  With no indoor church restrooms when we arrived at County Line, being close to the parsonage with a bathroom helped in “baby emergencies.” With full church schedules, there was a good amount of going back and forth.

Time consuming trips winding through the mountains on the way to church and school was later common during the family’s time in western Maryland.

When Phyllis and Verne moved to Indiana, Phyllis soon discovered she had too much teaching experience to compete with recent graduates on the public school pay scale.

During its last year of being open, Leininger taught grades one through four at the Milford Christian Church School. Besides doing their regular lessons, she and her twelve students put on a science fair, performed a musical, and created a small yearbook with original poetry and writings by the students.

When she accepted a position in the office at the Church of the Brethren Camp Alexander Mack, she had no idea that she would be there a little over 25 years.  She continued to hope for a public school position.  Then one rainy, muddy morning on the way to work at Camp, Leininger passed two children waiting at a bus stop.  They were tussling, wallowing in the ground’s mud.  “Well,” Phyllis thought, “at least they won’t be bringing their muddy selves into my classroom.”  Leininger’s appreciation for her current position grew that morning.

For Camp’s 75th Anniversary Celebration in 2000, Leininger wrote her first book, the children’s picture book, The Cornfield that Grows People.   At this anniversary celebration she shared a table at the back of Camp Mack’s Quinter-Miller Auditorium with Ambassador Andrew Young, the guest speaker of the day.  Lines formed in front of the table as persons waited for their turn to have the Ambassador and Leininger to sign their books.

The Leininger’s retired from Camp Mack on December 31, 2013.

They then moved to Greencroft Retirement Center in December 2018.  Pastor Verne died the following October.

With many Greencroft activities shut down because of the Covid-19 pandemic,  Phyllis used the year 2020 when she was basically shut in to write her book of over 500 pages called, TOGETHER: Memoirs of a Pastor’s Wife, that was published on Amazon in January 2021.

When the book was completed, she applied and was a 2021 winner in Greencroft’s Dream Contest.  Her dream of making a CD of herself playing the piano was fulfilled in August, 2021 when she was recorded at Rieth Recital Hall at Goshen College playing a number of religious and classical numbers.

Survivors include three children, Verne (Kathleen Martin) Leininger, Timberville, Virginia, John (Alice Peters) Leininger, Beavercreek, Ohio, and Barbara (Robert) Leininger Dickason, Addison, Texas; seven grandchildren Sarah (Matt) Katz, Caleb (Amanda Basham) Leininger, Micah, Leah, and Dylan Leininger, Sean (Joselyn Haldeman) Dickason, and Morgan (David Besel) Dickason; and four great grandchildren, Amelia, Everett, and Rhys Dickason, and Violet Aria Besel.

Also surviving are five siblings, Carol (Dennis) Shirey, Sharon Tolla, Fred (Nancy) Mahan, Karen (Joe) Beran and Betty (Jim) Koehler, all of Ohio.

Visitation is scheduled at Yoder-Culp Funeral Home from 2 pm to 4 pm and 6 pm to 8pm on Friday, February 23, 2024.  The family will also receive friends Saturday, from 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. funeral service at Goshen City Church of the Brethren, 205 N. 5th Street, Goshen.

Burial will be on Monday, February 26, 2024, at Poplar Ridge Cemetery near Defiance Ohio.  Memorials may be designated for Camp Alexander Mack or Goshen City Church of the Brethren.