Colleagues, friends mourn loss of Cummins exec, recall her positive spirit

One of the top executives of Columbus-based Fortune 200 company Cummins Inc. has died after an eight-year battle with cancer.

Lisa M. Yoder, 53, of Nashville, was the global supply chain vice president and one of 18 members of the Columbus-based company’s leadership team.

Yoder is survived by her husband, John Andrew Yoder; her three children, Rachel, Ryan and Katie; and her mother, Christine. Yoder’s father, Stanley Juzysta, preceded her in death.

Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger sent an email to company employees announcing Yoder’s Monday death, and noted that she died at home with her husband and mother present.

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“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,” Linebarger wrote. “She was a wonderful friend, a confidant that you could share with any time of the day or night.”

Yoder started her career at Cummins in 1987, the same year she graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering. She was a native of Michigan.

As the global supply chain vice president, Yoder led supply chain operations, purchasing, corporate quality, corporate manufacturing, logistics, warehouse, transportation, trade compliance, environmental management and health and safety for Cummins locations around the world, according to her company biography.

She also was active with several programs within the company. Yoder sponsored Cummins’ Environmental Challenge, which leverages the skills and interests of employees to generate environmental benefits for communities around the world, according to the Cummins website.

She led the Cummins Women’s Affinity Group of Southern Indiana, among other company affinity groups, and shared her professional and personal experiences with participants, her biography states.

“Most of all, Lisa was a fighter. She fought for what mattered to her. She fought for what was most important. She fought for Cummins. And she fought to stay alive for eight years battling a terrible disease,” Linebarger wrote in the email to employees.

The Cummins chairman wrote that Yoder battled her disease in hopes of seeing her daughter Katie graduate from high school and then college, and because she had goals she wanted to accomplish at Cummins. Linebarger added that Yoder participated in a staff-meeting call Monday because she wanted to contribute to an important leadership discussion.

Visitation hours are 4 to 8 p.m. today at Bond-Mitchell Funeral Home, 1682 State Road 135 North, Nashville. A Mass will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 1008 McLary Road, Nashville. Burial will be at Lanam Ridge Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Agnes Catholic Church or Mother’s Cupboard Community Kitchen, Nashville.

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Who: Lisa Yoder

What: Vice president of global supply chain

Age: 53

Education: Bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of Michigan, 1987; completed the Executive Development Program at Stanford University, 2006.

Background:

  • Began her career with Cummins in 1987
  • Held multiple key roles in engineering, management, information technology
  • Became executive director of supply chain and operations for Cummins Power Generation

Company sponsorships:

  • Cummins’ Environmental Challenge
  • Envision Cummins
  • Cummins Women’s Affinity Group of Southern Indiana

Family: Husband, Andy; children, Rachel, Ryan and Katie

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