Lawrence resident, ‘American hero’ who handled secret WWII documents remembered for her selflessness

Scottie Lingelbach, shown in this March 2012 file photo, lived a full life. After graduating from the University of Kansas, she served in World War II and handled top-secret documents on key military plans for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Then, she became a teacher, a real estate agent and a church deacon in a small Missouri town before moving back to Lawrence to serve as a community volunteer. She died April 3, 2018 at age 95.

Scottie Lingelbach lived a full life.

After graduating from the University of Kansas, she served in World War II and handled top-secret documents on key military plans for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Then she became a teacher, a real estate agent and a church deacon in a small Missouri town before moving back to Lawrence to serve as a community volunteer.

But to those who knew Lingelbach, who died Tuesday at age 95, what stood out most was simply her selflessness.

“She never said a word about herself,” said Brenda Thompson, who served as one of Lingelbach’s caretakers at the Brandon Woods assisted living facility. “I was impressed by her unselfishness and helpfulness at her age. She was always interested more in how everyone else was rather than herself.”

Thompson met Lingelbach while she was assisting late Lawrence sculptor Jim Brothers with a World War II-related sculpture.

“She really helped him with all the details. She knew so much about (Harry) Truman, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, D-Day,” Thompson said. “My mouth was open; it would hit the floor sometimes with the stuff she knew.”

Lingelbach’s experiences serving in the Navy and in World War II were detailed in NBC anchor Tom Brokaw’s book, “The Greatest Generation.”

“The war made me self-reliant,” she’s quoted as saying in the book. “I went to Washington not knowing anyone. My parents helped shape me. My father was very stern. He said, ‘I’ll educate you but then you’re on your own.’ When he gave me money to pay my way to officer’s training, you can bet I had to pay it back.”

Those experiences and the relationships Lingelbach built stuck with her decades later when she returned to her roots in Lawrence. Bill Lacy, director of the Dole Institute of Politics, said Lingelbach helped to bring members of the Greatest Generation to the Institute for programming events throughout the years.

“Scottie was an American hero and a great friend,” Lacy said. “She’s going to be very badly missed. She was an amazing lady and a fantastic representative of Greatest Generation.”

After moving back to Lawrence in the late 1980s, Lingelbach volunteered as a guide at the Spencer Art Museum and was a member of the Chancellor’s Club and contributed to the Williams Education Fund. She was heavily involved in her local church, and was known for how much she loved KU’s sports teams.

In 2012, before the Jayhawks left for New Orleans to play in the Final Four, Lingelbach was at Allen Fieldhouse, decked out in a crimson and blue outfit and Jayhawk earrings, to see off coach Bill Self and the players, according to a Journal-World article.

“Scottie is a true Jayhawk,” Self told the Journal-World at the time. “She is loyal, fun and a true friend. Scottie always lifts me up every time I see her.”

Services for Lingelbach are scheduled at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 10 at the First United Methodist Church, 946 Vermont St.