Wini Lefstead

Winifred Ann “Wini” Steingruber Lefstead passed away peacefully on Jan. 15, 2019, at the age of 90. Born on June 8, 1928, Wini led a very full life and was loved by her family and many friends.

Wini grew up in Ohio as a minister’s daughter and often told stories of a wonderful childhood even though her father was stationed as a chaplin in WWII and they spent many years without him. She loved the town she grew up in and talked often about running the library as a teenager and being the majorette that led the homecoming parade through town.

Wini attended Capital University in Columbus, where she met her first husband Paul Steingruber. She would remember him as the boy that all the girls had their eye on, though in the yearbook she was described as the “Capital Cutie,” so the feeling must have been mutual.

Wini became a minister’s wife when her husband was called to serve the Lutheran Church, which they did together until his death in 1992. From Ohio to Michigan, then on to Florida, Georgia and lastly in Texas, they served many wonderful congregations. While at Cross and Crown Lutheran Church in Chamblee, they formed friendships that lasted throughout their lives.

Although Wini served as a minister’s wife, she was also a substitute teacher and a librarian at DeKalb Community College. She loved working in the library but retired in 1998 when she married her second husband, Paul Lefstead, and pursued their grand plans to travel and explore the world. They did so for years until his death in 2011.

Wini was an avid gardener, an enthusiast of literature, a great cook and played some mean bridge. She enjoyed meeting with her bridge group, The Chatterboxes, and joked they would often chat more than play. As a lover of music her entire life, she still could sing hymns and songs from memory. She listened to music every day and was singing “You are my Sunshine” just a couple of hours before she died.

Wini was a devoted mother to her three children, Janis, Mark and David as well as a loving grandmother to her grandchildren Jordan, Anna and Sara. She lost Janis to ovarian cancer in 2002, which left a tremendous void in her life. We take comfort in knowing that Janis was one of the first to greet her mother after she passed.

Wini is also preceded in death by her parents Earl and Bula Stainbrook and her brother Fred Stainbrook. She leaves behind a family that loved her very much: son Mark Steingruber and daughter-in-law Fran, son David Steingruber and daughter-in-law Sharon, her three grandchildren, as well as stepdaughter Karen Lefstead Higgins and her husband Mark. We are thankful for her smile, her wit and the song she brought into our lives.

Visitation will be Thursday, Jan. 24 from 6–8 p.m. at HM Patterson and Sons Oglethorpe Hill, 4550 Peachtree Rd., Brookhaven. Funeral services will be held Friday, Jan. 25 at 11:30 a.m. at Christ the King Lutheran Church in the chapel, 5575 Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree Corners. A reception will follow the service. A private burial will be held for the immediate family. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to the GA Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. alz.org/georgia or 404-728-1181.

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