Lisa Yoder

News | 17 Jan 2017

I have some very sad news today. After a courageous eight-year battle with cancer, our dear friend and colleague Lisa Yoder passed away last night. She died at home with her husband Andy and her mom, Chris.

I have worked with Lisa since my first days at Cummins and, like many of us, I am deeply grateful to have been part of her remarkable life. She was a great leader, full of positive energy, ideas, and a relentless commitment to her team. She was a wonderful friend, a confidant that you could share with any time of the day or night. And she was an extraordinary wife and mother for Andy, Katie, Ryan and Rachel, attending basketball games and fashion shows, sharing life lessons, and, in good times and bad, always ready to support her family.

Most of all, Lisa was a fighter. She fought for what mattered to her. She fought for what was important. She fought for Cummins. And she fought to stay alive for eight years battling a terrible disease. When she was first diagnosed with cancer, the doctors told Lisa she likely had less than a year to live. But Lisa wanted to see Katie graduate from high school, and then from college. And she had a lot of things she still wanted to get done at Cummins, including making her supply chain team the best team that they could be and bringing our supply chain work into the modern era. So she fought.

Remarkably, Lisa was on our staff meeting call yesterday, trying to make sure that she contributed to an important leadership discussion. Many may wonder why she would spend some of her last days at work. Lisa loved to work and it had meaning for her. But I think the real reason is that she cared deeply about our leadership team, about her supply chain team, and about her entire Cummins family.

She fought for us.

I will miss her terribly as I know many of you will. But I feel so fortunate to have shared so much of my working career with Lisa and especially the last eight years. I will always remember my last visit with her, when she was clearly very weak, she was happy; happy to be working with us on supply chain, happy to be a contributor.

Please join me in providing support and comfort to her family, friends and colleagues as all of us grieve her loss. I will share more information about arrangements for Lisa once they become available.

Tom Linebarger   
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer