Wanda Lee Eisenach

Wanda Lee Eisenach was born in Warsaw, Kentucky on October 4, 1923 to John Wesley Shupert and Lula Green Shupert. She graduated from Gallatin County High School in 1942 as Salutatorian, and went on to earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Kentucky in 1946. She joined the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, in which she remained active throughout her life. She was recently awarded her 75th Anniversary Pin.

Wanda’s early professional career was in Cincinnati, where she worked for the Cincinnati Bell Telephone Company and then with the Hamilton County Welfare Authority as a counsellor in the children’s bureau. In 1951 she returned to school at Vanderbilt University and did course work towards a master’s degree in sociology, leading to a position with Family and Childrens’ Services in Dayton, Ohio, where she worked on facilitating adoptions. In 1952 she was introduced to Robert Charles (Bob) Eisenach. The couple married in 1953 and moved to Oakwood where they lived for most of the next 65 years until Bob’s death in 2018.

Wanda was an active participant in the Dayton community. She was a member of Fairmont Presbyterian Church from 1955 through 1979, when she and Bob moved to Bethesda, Maryland. Returning to Dayton in 1982, they joined Westminster Presbyterian Church, where Wanda remained a member until her death. She was also active in Meals on Wheels and as a member of Dayton Country Club, where she joined the Thursday nine-hole group and played golf weekly throughout her life. In 2014, Wanda and Bob moved to Bethany Village in Centerville where they participated in a variety of activities including various bridge groups. Wanda’s 100th Birthday Party was attended by more than 100 friends and relatives from Bethany and around the country.

With Bob, Wanda travelled the world, visiting 25 countries throughout Europe, Asia and South America. Her favorite trip was a two-week family driving vacation through Germany in 1977, including a visit to Eisenach, which was at that time still behind the Iron Curtain.

Wanda was a loving mother to her three children, Jeff, Sandy and Leigh Ann. She served on the Harman Elementary School PTA and participated actively in their lives, including the swimming and diving teams at Dayton Country Club. The loss of her daughter Sandy in 2003 after a five-year battle with cancer was a cause of sadness for the remainder of her days, but Wanda is remembered by her friends and family as an eternal optimist who was always ready with a kind and comforting word for those around her.

Wanda was preceded in death by her sisters Bonnie Jean Quinn and Mary Joy Warnock, her brother Harlan B. Shupert, her husband Bob and her daughter Sandy. She is survived by her son Jeffrey A. Eisenach of Oakton, VA; daughter Leigh Ann Eisenach of Centerville, OH; grandchildren Antonelli Briceno of Brooklyn, NY, Sarah Linden of Nokesville, VA and Andrew R. Eisenach of Centreville, VA; and, three great grandchildren, Noah, Hannah and Levi Linden.

A memorial service will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church at 11 am on July 27, 2024. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be considered to Graceworks Lutheran Services, Ohio’s Hospice, or Westminster Presbyterian Church.