Married 58 years, Leone Bihl is the mother of one, grandmother of two, and great grandmother of three.
Leone is a local Highland County gal, born in Buford and educated there for 10 of her early school years. When her parents moved, she finished her high school years at Edward Lee McClain High School in Greenfield. She was in the first class to be graduated from Morehead State University in 1966, holding a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English and minor in foreign languages. She studied in post graduate school and earned 150 hours.
In 1965, she married her former college classmate JC Bihl; her teaching career parallels his as she began at Pendleton County High School in 1966 then continued in Ohio at Bradford High School, Russia Local Schools, Bright Local Schools, Hillsboro High School, Southern State Community College, and Hillsboro Christian Academy.
The Bihls live just outside of Hillsboro but enjoy spending time in the winter away from the cold, ice and wind in sunny Florida.
For her career she worked almost 45 years as an educator in Kentucky and Ohio, both in public and private schools, teaching most grades including second through adults, specializing in literature and languages. Some of her out of the ordinary teaching experiences included teaching migrants who picked tomatoes during the growing season, teaching bright students in TAG (Talented and Gifted) and helping ambitious adults receive their GED.
In her “rare” spare time, Leone enjoys experimenting with cooking, writing, reading, knitting, meeting new folk, volunteering (mostly for the Highland Co. Historical Society and her church) and occasionally subbing for Hillsboro Christian Academy.
In addition to being the treasurer for HCRTA, Leone serves as newsletter editor for Ohio’s New Covenant Emmaus.