Teresa L. Whitley

An amazing, beautiful, caring, loving and resilient woman and wife who was ever faithful to the Lord finished her race here on this earth at 12:35 AM September 16, 2019. She died in a peaceful state and experienced little if any pain those last few days. She fought an unbelievable five-and-a-half-year battle with remarkable grace, always caring about others instead of herself.
She was born Teresa Lee Leonhard on November 13, 1950 in Green Bay, WI to Robert and Ruth Leonhard. Terri was the middle girl in a family of three girls and three boys. She went to nursing school in Milwaukee to get her initial three-year nursing degree. No surprise that she became a nurse as she was a very caring person.
She met John Bush in North Carolina and they were married in Virginia. Terri and John had three sons: Sean, Patrick, and Kevin. John was a Marine stationed at Cherry Point, NC when they got married, but later they ended up living in Cincinnati where she stayed at home and raised the boys. Unfortunately, their marriage ended, and Terri went back to work making very little money. Later she found a better job as a dialysis nurse at a local hospital. While working, she went back to get her four-year nursing degree at the University of Cincinnati. As Terri stated, "I know, looking back, that God carried me through all of this. I went kicking and screaming, but He carried me anyway."
During their marriage Terri met her Heavenly Father as a result of a church deacon sharing the Four Spiritual Laws with her. Later after the marriage ended, her walk with the Lord deepened and solidified with the support of her church and pastor during this difficult and challenging time. Years later, she met her husband Russ Whitley. They had two ceremonies to celebrate their love for each other – one in Fairborn, OH and another in the Holy Land of Israel, in Jerusalem.
Terri loved and cared for all her dialysis patients, her husband, her children, and her multitude of friends. She conducted many Bible studies at her house. She had a thirst for learning about her Heavenly Father. When she didn't understand, she never hesitated to say so. Though quiet, she was always listening and taking things in. One thing that set her apart was her ability to appreciate the "important and essential." Even when she claimed to "have chemo brain" (battling cancer) and couldn't recall all the details, she never lost her ability to focus on some critically important aspect of whatever she was doing.
In Bible Study she might not remember the specifics, but she always had a question or comment that brought the group into a deeper appreciation and sense of clarity. And she seemed to bring this gift into each and every relationship she was in – family, praise and worship and even work. Terri was always able to focus on what was important. In her life, although she experienced many difficulties and challenges, she had a gift to work toward the next important thing. She always had a gift in helping others (and herself) to step forward into types of healing. In the roughly five years she battled cancer, she never lost faith and confidence in her Lord and Savior and in His promised healing – whether it would take place on this world or in the next.
And can we talk about the strength she exuded in her journey of the last five years. Where did she get all that strength from? There was a day when she and her friend were reading Scripture when they got a hint: Nehemiah 8: 10 says, "Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!" Indeed, she would want us all to know her strength came from the Lord.
She is survived by her husband Russ Whitley, sons Sean Bush, Patrick Bush and Kevin Bush, sister Barb Cason, sister Patt and husband Quent Hepola, brother Scott Leonhard, brother Tim and wife Teri Leonhard, and brother Marty and wife Treena Leonhard.