![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Leah-Lichtenberger-9-2026.jpg\")
She graduated from Adams Central High School and attended Goshen College. After traveling to Germany, she fell in love with the language and culture, weaving that passion into her everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leah lived life at full throttle as a fierce, unbridled spirit with a deep reverence for the earth and a profound belief in serendipity. She poured real heart and passion into the work she loved over the years, though no single title could ever define her as she always prioritized living life to its absolute fullest. She was a traveler at heart who loved exploring, whether hiking quiet trails, riding the rails, or hitting the open road on her Harley. She found endless wonder in nature, marveling at storms, sunsets, eclipses, and rainbows, often declaring them simply “gorgeous”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A true cheerleader for the underdog and a welcoming voice to strangers, Leah made everyone around her feel cherished. She loved animals deeply, turning her life into a quiet sanctuary for dozens of dogs, cats, orphaned raccoons, and even an injured deer. Out of profound respect for every living creature, she lived as a committed vegan. Among her many talents, Leah was a gifted baker whose legendary freshly baked bread was generously shared with anyone lucky enough to sit at her table. When she wasn\u2019t on the move, you could find her tending her garden, lost in a fantasy book, or taking a long soak in her clawfoot tub, always surrounded by her critters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leah is survived by her sister, Rebecca (Terry) Reichard; her brothers, Timothy (MaryAnn) Lichtenberger, Mark Lichtenberger, and Jonathan (Shareen) Lichtenberger; her nieces, Holly (Andrew) Ulrey, Lauren (Dalton) Brazell, and Amber (Christopher) Hoggard; her grand-nephews and grand-nieces: Cole Ulrey, Finley and Indigo Brazell, Addison Hoggard; and Trae (Derek) Church and Breana (fiance Ryan Specht) Penner, who held her dear as their stepmother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was preceded in death by her parents, Carl and Annabelle Lichtenberger; her niece, Lydia Rose Lichtenberger, and her nephew, Timothy Brite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A time of visitation will be held from 12-4 p.m. Saturday, September 26, in the College Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall, Goshen, followed by a celebration of life at 5 p.m. at The Fraternal Order of the Eagles Lodge, Syracuse, Indiana.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In lieu of flowers the family suggests a contribution to Tunnel2Towers (T2T) or Veteran\u2019s Senior Living and Care Home in West Lafayette.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Leah Lynn Lichtenberger, 58, of Millersburg, Indiana, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, September 5, 2026, alongside her devoted partner of 26 years, Lowell Penner. Born on October 14, 1967, in Decatur, Indiana, Leah was the daughter of the Carl and Annabelle (Shaffer) Lichtenberger, who both preceded her in death. She graduated from Adams Central High […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-obituaries"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-26 22:20:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210021"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210024,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210021\/revisions\/210024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}