Leona Winger believed in God. She also believed in miracles. Before her passing in December of 2022, Winger, a former South Jordan City council member, finished a book entitled, “Miracles Have Not Ceased: Neither Have Angels Ceased to Minister Unto Men.”

An excerpt from her book states the following: “I first learned about miracles when I was a young child. My father would pick me up, sit me on his lap, and in his deep, penetrating voice, he read the Bible to me. One day, after he had read the miracle of God parting the Red Sea and saving the children of Israel, he looked deeply into my eyes, and told me that if I had faith in Almighty God, I would see miracles in my own life.”

Winger had a deep-rooted belief that miracles are real, not merely coincidence. With her health declining in March of 2022, she felt inspired to finish her collection of miracle stories that she had started many years prior. Winger entrusted her goal of being published to long-time friend Sue Troff.

“She started working on miracles...for thirty years of her life, gathering miracles and talking to people about her own miracles,” Troff said.

For several months after Winger’s passing, Troff, who was the executor of Winger’s will, went in search of a book publisher, but had very little success. She needed a miracle.

Troff eventually found her way to local author and publisher Jayne Ann Osborne (“When Mommies Get Sick.”) Osborne began Merry Robin Publishing with sister Holly Kolb in June 2022. The sisters have helped six local authors publish 11 titles to date.

According to Osborne, detailed instructions and means were left to see the book through to publication. The book itself is meant to be a study guide, a way for the reader to recognize and ask for miracles.

“Leona is pleading with the reader to understand that they have the ability to confidently seek and actively expect miracles in their lives,” Osborne said. “Anybody of any faith background would be able to glean that from this book.”

Not only did Winger leave a legacy of faith, she also was deeply committed to serving the community. The Deseret News reported in her obituary that Winger served eight years on the South Jordan City council as well as on the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees for Roseman University of Health Sciences.

According to former South Jordan City Councilmember Chuck Newton, Winger was a champion for Roseman University opening a campus in South Jordan. Not only a champion for education, Winger was also in favor of responsible economic development in South Jordan by way of reasonable commercial growth. 

Winger had four loves according to Newton, a love for Utah, a love for South Jordan, a love of the gospel of Jesus Christ as she found it in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and lastly, a love of helping others.

In addition to their service within the community, Newton and Winger formed a friendship based on their mutual faith and Winger would talk often about publishing a faith-based book one day. Newton said he was delighted when he learned that she was able to finish the book before her death.

“Different people are different levels of, of faith and desire to understand and understanding,” Newton said.  “And there are some who believe in miracles regardless of their Christian faith or their non-Christian faith.”

Winger believed in miracles, and she left a published guide for the world to be able to read and believe in them, too.

Another excerpt from her book reads as follows: “Although the exact definition of what constitutes a miracle changes from person to person and from dictionary to dictionary, I have found that as we broaden our definition and increase our understanding of miracles through study and prayer, we are able to see them more in our lives.”

For more information about Merry Robin Publishing, as well as information about ordering a copy of Winger’s book, visit https://www.merryrobinpublishing.com/about. λ