The Reverend Eileen C. Lindeman, an Episcopal Priest (retired) died in the early hours of June 15, 2026 following several years of physical and neurological decline, and after a week on hospice in Westerly, RI, replete with visits, calls and voice notes from family near and far. Her family gives thanks to the never-failing care of God through the Resurrection of Christ.

Eileen was born in Grand Island, NE in 1954 to Arthur Maynard and Dena Loraine Cornish. She and her family moved to Lincoln, NE where her two sisters, Cheryl Kay and Mary Luoise were born. The Cornish girls lived in Lincoln and Seward, NE, where their father worked as an Insurance Actuary following several years of serving in the United States Army in Korea as a member of the infantry.

Raised in the Episcopal Church, Eileen was a hungry learner with an adventuresome spirit, an insatiable curiosity and an entrepreneurial spirit. Together with her sisters, they sold fireworks and ran a concession stand replete with penny candy, popcorn and other pool-side wonders, while also nurturing their own unique gifts and talents. Eileen loved learning and (CUT) pursued research with support of the National Science Foundation while in High School. She was a high jumper in track and a woman of deep faith with mystical experiences that led her into the heart of the Jesus movement in the late 1960’s and early 1070’s. She attended Oral Roberts University and completed (FOR) one year, transferring to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to purpose a vocation in teaching (CUT) at the Teachers College. During her senior year, she responded to a call to discern a life in Holy Orders as a Benedictine nun, entering into monastery at Pecos, NM.

It was there that she met Mitchell J. Lindeman, a student on leave from St. Martin’s College (Benedictine), where he was an aspirant for ordination in the Roman Catholic Church. Mitch wanted a more rigorous path of discernment toward his vocation, and found, much to his surprise, a best friend, loving bride, partner in parenting and ministry in Eileen. Their courtship lasted through the Fall of that year until All Hallows Eve, when Mitch proposed and Eileen accepted. Eileen returned to finish her degree in Lincoln, CT and Mitch migrated between Keflavik, Iceland, where his father was a Commander in the Air Force, and Phoenix, AZ where his brother Mark was in AFROTC and on the path to becoming a fighter pilot. Mitch moved to Lincoln to work in a regional center for community health, and they were married in April of 1976. Eileen graduated with a degree in secondary special education as Mitch began to study at University of Nebraska, Lincoln in the fall.

Somehow, in the midst of all of this, she was also accepted to the Law School at the University of Nebraska. She attended one day of class, and, hating it thoroughly, extracted a dispensation from the Dean of the school to allow her to re-matriculate if she ever changed her mind.

Eileen taught at the same regional center in a self-contained classroom and served on a unit at the Nebraska Center for Children and Youth.

Their early married years were punctuated by long hours at work and study, with delightful dates of coffee and pie at the local Village Inn. They were immersed in the worlds of clinical metal health, psychology and psychiatry, and then study of History.

Mitch was received into the Episcopal Church in 1976 and began discernment for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church as a priest while studying at UNL. After graduation and with the blessing of the Bishop, Mitch Matriculated to Yale Divinity School in the fall of 1980 as a postulant for Holy Orders, and they began a new life on Prospect St. in New Haven. Eileen had many roles – from career services to serving as an assistant to Dr. Roland Bainton while also bringing their son, Matthew, into the world in 1982. During this time, Eileen battled an emerging set of symptoms that were eventually linked to a cyst on her brain.

Eileen recovered with the help of her sister, Cheryl. Mitch began his years in ordained ministry as a curator at All Saints Episcopal Church in Omaha, NE. Eventually they moved to Falls City, NE where Mitch served as rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Eileen gave birth to their incredibly energetic and irrepressibly joyful daughter, Catherine, and their incredibly wonderful daughter Madeline Claire. Claire was born with Downs Syndrome and opened the Lindeman family to a new vocation toward advocacy for Claire and organizing other families with special needs.

From Falls City, Mitch was called to serve as the rector of St. Matthews Episcopal Church in London, NE, where they moved in the Spring of 1989. During this time, Eileen was a faithful member of the Church choir, a devoted Mother of three very different children, all while advocating for public policy in legislation for families impacted by disability. She received the Governor’s award for creating networks for respite care for these families and forged community among many friends through that work.

She discerned a call to ordination, and despite strong headwinds a resistance in her home diocese to the ordination of women, was given permission to nurture her gifts for serving as a priest. While Harvard Divinity School courted her after she took the GREs, she decided instead to commute to Creighton University for a degree in theology, focusing on Ignatian Spirituality.

A Memorial Servies will be held at a later date. When conditions permit, the family will offer a Requiem Eucharist in celebration of Eileen’s life which will take place at the Church of Holy Spirit, Charlestown, RI.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial gift in honor of Eileen to Episcopal Charities, Rhode Island.

With the comfort and hope in Christ’s resurrection.