David Howard Leifheit, 72, passed away peacefully at Zilber Hospice in Wauwatosa on September 24th, 2026.

David was born on June 8th, 1954 in Hamilton, Ohio to the late Donald and Marilyn (nee: Sauter) Leifheit. He spent most of his life in the Cincinnati area before moving to Racine.

David graduated from Lebanon High School in Lebanon, OH and continued his education at Miami of Ohio earning a BS in Paper Technology in 1976, a then at the University of Cincinnati where he earned a second BS in Chemistry in 1980 and a Masters in Chemistry in 1984.

He began working at the Drackett corporation in 1980 and worked on developing many home cleaning products and continued this after moving to Racine and continuing his career with SC Johnson, from which he would retire. He spearheaded many projects, earning nearly two dozen patents for his work. He was especially proud of his work on Aveeno soap and Scrubbing Bubbles.

On July 25th, 1981 he was united in marriage to Barbara Schwieter. He shared with her his love of outdoor adventures. What started as hiking and camping grew to cross-country trips, trans-oceanic cruises and travels around the world. He would eventually travel to all seven continents. He would remember with particular fondness his travel to New Zealand to visit the shooting locations for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a favorite book and movie series in the family, and going to Africa with his sister Patty. In addition to the world traveling, David and Barbara traveled frequently to Florida during Wisconsin’s coldest months to visit their daughter Sarah and enjoy the sun and the Disney World theme parks.

Active in the church, David met many dear friends there and served as sacristan, lector and Eucharistic Minister and on the Parish council. He would often go out to dinner after church with these friends. David and Barbara were regulars the Racine Theater Guild and Fireside Theater, from which they held season tickets and rarely missed a new show, always having extra tickets for friends to join.

Left to cherish David’s memories are his daughter Sarah; his sisters Patricia Anderson and Diane (David) Richardson, cousin Denise Lewis, nephew Joseph Richardson, niece Casie and brothers-in-law Clifford and Robert Schwieter. In addition to his parents preceding him in death was his wife Barbara and her parents Clifford and Bernice, his brother Dennis, brother-in-law Kenneth Schwieter and sister-in-law Char Schwieter.

Special thank you to all the angels at St. Lukes Medical Center and Zilber Hospice who cared for him during his illness.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Thursday October 1st, 2026 at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, 6400 Spring St, Mt Pleasant, WI 53406, at 11:00 am. Visitation will be held the same day at 9:30 am and will continue until time of Mass.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to St. Paul the Apostle Parish, HALO and Bethany Apartments have been suggested.

You may witness the Mass via livestream by selecting the link below on Thursday, October 1st at 11:00 am: