Dana A. Leibengood
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Memorial services for Dana A Leibengood, 89, Lawrence, will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday April 9 at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence. A visitation will be held at 1:00 p.m. Dana passed away Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at The University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, KS.
Dana was born on January 20, 1933, in Lawrence, KS, the son of Dana and Grace (Arnold) Leibengood.
He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Journalism from the University of Kansas.
He retired in 1989 after 29 years of service as the Director of Student Services and Associate Dean of the Journalism School.
He married Judith Cox on May 1, 1970. She survives of the home.
Other survivors include his daughter, Linda (Peter) Palij; three sons, Larry (Janet) Leibengood, Bill (Stephanie) Leibengood, Steve Leibengood; five grandchildren, Mark and Maria Palij, Nicholas Leibengood, Alyssa Leibengood, Lexi Leibengood; and two great grandchildren, Amelia Leibengood and Flynn Leibengood. He was preceded in death by a son, Michael Leibengood.
Memorial contributions may be made in Dana’s name to the Dana A. and Michael S. Leibengood Memorial Scholarship fund through the Journalism Department at KU and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 W. 13th Street, Lawrence, KS 66044.
Steve, so sorry to hear about your father. He was ALWAYS such a stong supporter of you and our teams. I was so fortunate to know him because of you. I know numerous people that had him at KU as a professor and they all spoke of him highly. I am out of town or would be at the service. You are in my thoughts. Coach Harrod.
Steve you and your family are in my prayers, so sorry for your loss.
Dana did not stop being a friend and supporter even after graduation from the J-School. Years later he was still ready to help in a job search or offer positive advice. I shall miss those long chats in the neighborhood as he walked his big black dog or when we ran into each other at the grocery store. Once you were his student, he never forgot you. What a kind caring man. Our thoughts and sympathy are with Judy and family.
Bonnie Dunham
Jon Dunham
I’m so sad to see this. I was in the J School with him as one of the deans and he was always so kind and helpful. He seemed to somehow know all the students. I’m very sorry for your loss. He made a great impact on many, many people.
Dana was a good man, worthy of respect from the day you met him. Bless the family. Mark Buhler
I am so saddened that Dana has passed. Such a loving, interesting beyond belief, incredible memory and a forever friend. Judy you took the best care of him and I know that he had the greatest love and appreciation for you. I truly enjoyed the nights and incredible dinners we shared at your table! I am sorry to miss this service as I am out of town so will be with you in spirit.
On behalf of our members, staff and board, the Kansas Scholastic Press Association sends its appreciation for the work that Dana Leibengood did on behalf of student journalists and their teachers in the state of Kansas. Decades after Leibengood left his work as director of KSPA, the organization is thriving. Each year, thousands of students attend our events, thousands of students work to earn KSPA awards, thousands of dollars in scholarships are awarded and hundreds of students find a lifetime love of journalism.
It’s hard to overstate the influence that Leibengood had by helping to start this non-profit. One fellow KSPA founder wrote me to say, “Dana *was* the Kansas Scholastic Press Association for his many years as executive director. He guided member advisers and supporters into building one of the nation’s best scholastic journalism organizations — all with a goal of helping student journalists across the state. He was deliberate in his planning, and that ensured KSPA’s stability over many years, with support from KU’s William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications.” Leibengood was inducted into the KSPA Hall of Fame for his work.
During the lifetime of KSPA, there have only been five directors — with Leibengood being the first. That stability in leadership speaks to the vibrant association that he created and the meaningful mission of KSPA.
The students of Kansas, including Pulitzer Prize winners and other incredible world-changing journalists, owe Leibengood a thank you for the foundation he created for KSPA.
On May 7, our association will meet for our State Celebration. We will observe a moment of silence to honor the work of one of KSPA’s founding members.
Thanks to his family and friends for sharing Leibengood’s talents with KSPA.
I only knew Dana Leibengood briefly as a nontraditional student trying to figure out how to get my life back on track. Somehow he said all the right words to me, and here I am 30 years later still fighting the good fight in journalism. I posted his obituary and told the story on my Facebook page. Now there are handfuls of additional folks commenting that he touched their lives in the same way. What an amazing mark to leave on the world. I am sorry to hear that he is no longer with us, but congratulations and thank you to his friends and family for sharing such an amazing person with the universe.
Sending my condolences to the entire Leigengood family. Dana was my advisor all throughout my four years at KU. He took me under his wing as a lost new student from Iowa and he made me feel right at home — he was the best of the best at KU! He mentored me and I eventually started working at KU for summer orientation and became a peer advisor. Dana and his blue ink pens and yellow lined legal pad were quintessential student advising tools! I can still see it in my head — he paved the way for so many of us. So grateful for his kindness and welcoming spirit.
So sorry to hear the news. Dana was a great friend, adviser and boss. I am so sorry I cannot make it to the Saturday service. I will be working the Royals game. I am sure Dana would understand.
Thinking of you all and really enjoying the video with all of the pictures. I have such fond memories of the cousins going back and forth between our homes on 9th St and Wellington Rd so many years ago.
Much love, Beth (Edith’s daughter)
I am saddened to hear of Dana’s passing. Although I did not know him well I was always appreciative of the help that he and his father gave me years ago when studying and then writing an analysis (later to become my thesis) of the photographs of his grandmother, Maud Thompson Arnold. My condolences to his family. Kate Dawes
Dana blessed us with his wisdom and his kindness. He not only knew, he cared. When students left his office with a sheet from his yellow pad, it was more than a map, it was a get-well card. He counseled colleagues as well as students. Like all great coaches, he wouldn’t tell you what to do, he’d ask you and let you figure it out. When we teach and mentor, we carry Dana’s wisdom and kindness with us. He showed us the way.
My sincere condolences to the Leibengood family. Dana was a great person, a good man, and a wonderful advisor. I got to know him through helping to advise students during KU Summer Orientation, and eventually migrated to the School of Journalism, where Dana was my advisor, and my mentor. He helped me shape my career, and I can honestly say I wouldn’t have had such a wonderful career without his guidance.
While I am greatly saddened by his passing, I know that his was a life well lived. I will be forever grateful for his kindness and his wisdom.
Another Legend from the ‘70-80’s era of great J-School Profs. Thank you Dana from all you helped a long the way. We are very grateful
To the family,
Dean Leibengood had such a profound impact on me. I first met with him during a college visit the spring of my junior year in high school. He was so adept at distilling course requirements into an easy-to-understand format. Two years after that initial meeting, I returned to office to say that I was interested in applying to the J-school. He took out a piece of paper and laid out my schedule for the next two years. He leaves a tremendous legacy as an advocate for a community of creators (writers) in whom he instilled confidence that they could succeed at one of the nation’s premiere journalism schools. May his memory be a blessing to all who have the good fortune of crossing paths with him.
So sorry to hear of Dana’s passing. His guidance was critical to me and so many others in the J-School, as he was always available to assist and lend an ear. Anyone who went through Stauffer-Flint came out better because of his influence and leadership. God bless the family and may he rest in eternal peace.
Somehow my online links today brought me to think of Dana, and then to this sad news that he is no longer with us in this realm. In my memory he was always in the office at KU’s School of Journalism, always with the answer to any administrative question, always a ready helpmate in any situation. I count him along with Susanne Shaw and Del Brinkman as the Big 3 who kept the place running smoothly all during my time there in the ’70s, lured there by John Bremner, who had been my editing prof at the University of Iowa.
Those four, plus the Picketts and the Darys, and Diane Lazzarino welcomed me and my young family and made it so easy for Lawrence to feel like home. I have mostly only good memories associated with that time and our association. The one notable exception — having to call Dana and Judy to let them know that a child at a kids’ Halloween party at our house had come down with the measles, and so sadly their child, too, had been exposed. That call was toughest of all for me to make. I think because somehow Dana was always so orderly and on top of things, and such a situation would never occurred on his watch.
He was definitely one of the good guys, and one you could count on to make things happen when they were supposed to and the way they were supposed to. R.I.P. and my sympathies to the family.