Julia Regina Linnenkohl

Julia Regina “Jean” Piper Linnenkohl, 104, died Friday, July 24, 2026. Born on July 13, 1922, she was the third daughter of Julia Collette Starr and Chauncey Jerome Piper of Tell Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

She completed a three-year nursing program at Altoona Hospital in 1946 and worked as a registered nurse in Pennsylvania before joining the U.S. Army in January of 1950, and completed her Officer Basic Nurses Training at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

She was stationed at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Aurora Colorado, where she took care of injured Korean War soldiers. It was here that she met her husband, Henry “Hank” Carl Linnenkohl, who was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado. Jean and Hank were married on November 22, 1950 in the Fitzsimmons Army Hospital Chapel.

She is survived by her 5 children and their families: David Henry, his wife, Christina Jane, and their daughters: Laura Jane Linnenkohl, and Sarah Elizabeth Linnenkohl Iverson, her husband, Jeffrey Michael, and their daughter Leona Jean — Susan Carol — Karen Ann — Marcia Jean Blankenship and her 2 sons, Lucas Andrew Blankenship, his wife Cara Lynne, and their son Arden James, and Nathan Patrick Blankenship — and Robert Carl. In addition, she leaves 14 nieces and nephews and a host of grandnieces and grandnephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Julia and Chauncey Piper; her husband of 48 years, Hank; two sisters, Mary Agnes Yohn and Margaret Elizabeth Nawoczenski-Nolan; a brother, John Jerome Piper, and a nephew, Richard William Yohn.

A mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 29, 2026 at St. Henry’s Memorial Chapel, Calvary Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio. Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Interment will be at Calvary Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Mary's Catholic Church, 20896 Croghan Pike, Orbisonia, PA 17243-9000.