John M. Leininger

John Martin Leininger, of rural Binford, passed away unexpectedly on January 4, 2016 at home on his farm. He was born in Gary, Indiana on November 27, 1940 to Kenneth and Hazel (Rood) Leininger. The family moved back shortly after to the Binford, ND, area. John graduated from Binford High School in 1958 and from Valley City State College in 1963. Following graduation John taught at Audubon, MN. John married Linda Salsbury in Fargo, ND on May 30, 1964. He received his Master’s degree from the University of Montana in 1965. Following graduation he taught business classes and was a coach, counselor and principal at Terry, Montana from 1965 to 1975.

In 1975 John and Linda returned to the Binford area and began farming with John’s Dad. While farming he became involved with irrigation and water issues and was the founder and first president of the North Dakota Irrigation Association. From 1986-1994 John worked at NDFU in Jamestown, ND as assistant to the president. In 1994 he helped form the North Dakota Fish Farmers co-op and became the CEO. In 1997 John became the assistant to the National Farmers Union President in the Denver, Colorado, and held that position for two years. During that time they lived in the Denver area. Upon returning to North Dakota he became the director of the 21st Century Community Learning Center until his retirement in 2010. This included supervision of After-School programs in the area as well as becoming involved in community issues. John became involved in many trips to Washington, D.C. to visit with congressmen about how to keep our rural communities active. His small town of Binford was very important to him. He worked diligently to keep it flourishing as rural North Dakota declined in population. When traveling, people would ask him, “Where is Binford?” He would love to reply, “Halfway between Mose and Jessie”. The center of John’s life was his faith and his church. He was a Sunday School teacher, youth mentor, council member and was also for a time the Secretary of the ELCA Eastern Synod. He replaced his father on the Garrison Diversion Board and later became President. Presently he was on the executive committee.

John Leininger had a passion for each project in which he was involved - whether it was meeting with congressmen on the issue of education or helping one of his children construct a building. He did not require much sleep and so accomplished much during his waking hours. John influenced many people in his life and the hope is that those people in turn are influencing others in the same positive way. He loved being with his wife and family and arranged many activities for them to be together. He will be missed by so many, as his zest for life was truly contagious.

He was preceded in death by his parents; grandson Jordan Leininger; brother-in-law, Rick Alm; and nephews Michael Gylten and Brandon Spitzer.