Roger L. Leister

Born: September 22, 1923
Died: August 13, 2009
Services: A memorial service will be held at 1:00 pm Saturday, August 22, 2009 at St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church, 129 Charles Street in Hanover with The Rev. Kirk A. Griffin officiating. The Hanover Allied Veteran’s Honor Guard will provide military rites immediately following the service. Burial will be private in Rest Haven Cemetery.
Visitation: The family will receive friends from 11 am until the time of the service in the fellowship hall of the church.
Roger L. Leister of Hanover, PA died Thursday, August 13, 2009 at Cross Keys Village--The Brethren Home Community. Born September 22, 1923 in Conewago Twp, he was a son of the late Edgar and Helen Rebert Leister. Even as a young man, he had been described as a hardworking, kind, and respectable gentleman.Roger graduated from Eichelberger High School with the class of 1940 and attended the yearly reunions including his 69th in June 2009. He had worked for the Peoples Bank of Hanover for two years before entering the U.S. Army Air Corps training program. After graduating from this program, he trained to fly B-24 Bombers and later transferred to the European Theater where he flew for the 2nd Air Division, part of the 8th Air Force. He served his country during World War II piloting B-24s for both the 492nd Bomb Group and the 467th Bomb Group. On his ninth mission, his aircraft was crippled and he was forced to crash land in England. After eighteen months, he finished his tour of thirty five missions and remained in England to instruct other pilots in instrument blind landing. During that time he also flew the Assembly ship on every mission that left the base. He later returned to the United States and separated from the service after receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, the Air Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Outstanding Bomb Group Award and the European Theater Award.On May 28, 1944, he married Dorothy Mae Walton and after the war they started raising a family of three girls. His family has since grown to include grandchildren and great-grand children. He and his wife enjoyed their lives together for 57 years until her death on October 30, 2001.He worked at the Hanover Shoe Company before forming a partnership with his brother and worked as a co-owner of the Leister’s Furniture Company for forty years before retiring.Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. ~Author Unknown Roger had been a member of the Hanover Lions Club for 38 years serving in many capacities including President (2005-2006). He and his wife formed the Hanover Alliance for the Mentally Ill and were members of the State and National organizations after having formed the same organizations in Hanover. He was a member of St. Mark Lutheran Church, where he served eighteen years as council member during which time he served eleven years as president. He was also a Sunday School teacher for several years. He was a member of the Hanover Elks Lodge # 763, a life member of the Hanover Veterans of Foreign Wars Post # 2506, a member of AARP Hanover Chapter #1842 where he and Dottie received the Volunteer of the Year award in 1998, a former member of the Hanover Red Cross Blood Mobile where he served as a board member of the local Chapter of the Red Cross, he was a volunteer with the Hanover Area Meals on Wheels food program, and was a member of the Senior Bowling League. His wife Dorothy was in the first class of Hanover Hospital’s Gray Ladies. Following suit, in 1984 after his retirement from Leister’s Furniture, Roger was the first man to graduate the Hanover Hospital Volunteer class causing a dilemma of what to call a male volunteer. As they decided not to refer to him as a gray man, they became known as Hanover Hospital Volunteers. He enjoyed volunteering at the hospital until health prevented him from continuing around 2006. In November of 1994, Roger and Dottie received the Golden Deeds Award for their volunteer work in the community from the Hanover Exchange Club. He served for several years on the board at the condominium community where he resided. On May 24, 2008 the Lions Club International honored Roger with a Melvin Jones Fellowship award for his humanitarian work in his community.We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~Winston ChurchillTo sum up Roger Leister's life in a short space one could say he was someone who had given much but asked for very little. When recently asked what he would most like to be remembered for his reply was his good deeds. He also told friends that he had lived 85 wonderful years with no regrets.Survivors include three daughters, Susan Cashman and her husband Bradley of Carlisle, PA, Linda Leister of Wernersville, PA and Joanne Woodfill and her husband Mark Woody of Hanover; four Cashman grandsons Barton, Burton and wife Kristin, Brenton and wife Mindy, and Bradley Jr. and fiance Alex Baker, along with Susan and Bradley's foster son (M)Sgt Randy L. Gill, USAF and wife Sherese with their two sons Tavian and Tatum; three great-grandaughters Kaitlin, Cassidy and Bella; two younger brothers Rev. Dr. Elwood Leister and wife Shirley of Chambersburg, and Dr. Glenn Leister and wife Nancy of Hanover; and a sister-in-law, Ruth Leister, widow of brother Kenneth W. Leister who died December 26, 2008.


Memorials: In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent through the Hanover Lions Club, 52 Knisley Drive, Hanover, PA 17331. These donations will later be presented to both the Hanover Visiting Nurse Association (VNA-hospice) and the veterans at the Lebanon VA Hospital.









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