Michael Thomas Landis
On September 15, 2026, husband of Elizabeth Kimball, father of Emily Landis, Sarah Landis (Josh Kail), & Peter Landis, grandfather of Eleanor Kail & Dylan Warwick, and brother of Nancy Landis. Beloved son of Thomas and Angelina Landis of Barrington, NJ who have already passed away.
Mike was a graduate of Rutgers University Camden (class of 1983) where he studied history and edited the student newspaper The Gleaner. In his early career, he was a manager for the Gimbels department stores. He then served as an executive at SMS (now Siemens) in Malvern, PA, Campbell’s Soup Company in Camden, and Diageo in Stamford, CT, as well as in consulting in strategic human resources. He mentored numerous young professionals and helped many more find the right fit in their organizations.
His true life’s work was serving the Neighborhood Center in Camden, NJ. Founded in 1915, Neighborhood Center is one of the few remaining original settlement houses in the United States. Starting in the 1980s as a volunteer through Haddonfield United Methodist Church, Mike was volunteer, then board member, and since 2012, Executive Director. Under Mike’s leadership, the Center brought its original mission of the “four-fold life” –cultivating mind, body, spirit, and community –to create a modern, fully inclusive organization with an Early Development Childcare Center, programs for school age children that wrap around the school day and year, a community garden that grows over 1200 pounds of produce each year, a teen program, and a daily lunch available to all. He raised funds to renovate the historic campus, cultivating donors through the Center’s roots in the United Methodist Church in New Jersey while also pursuing significant private and public funding sources, with the help of a diverse and dedicated board and staff.
Mike was an avid student of history. At Rutgers, he wrote a thesis on George Kennan drawing from archives at Princeton University. He especially admired Franklin Delano Roosevelt and strove to follow his philosophy to always try to “do something” so that everyone can live with freedom from fear and freedom from want. He also served with pride on the vestry of historic Christ Church, Philadelphia.
Nothing gave Mike more joy than creating family by feeding people delicious and abundant meals. In over 40 years, he never missed a Thanksgiving food giveaway event at Neighborhood Center, ultimately transforming the food distribution to a community wide “flash grocery store” that allowed people to independently choose the foods that they wished. In part, his love of family meals drew from his pride in being the grandson of Italian immigrants Libro and Rita Testa and his memories of large family gatherings in Vineland, NJ. But he also possessed his own gift for making family, in the one he made with his daughters Emily and Sarah and their stepmom Liz before welcoming their son Peter, his adopted grandparents Rev. David and Esther Wilson, the Kimball and Dodds families in his marriage to Liz, his long-time friend Michael Arnas, and with the staff of the Neighborhood Center, especially Tess Holley and Valerie Cooke with whom he shared leadership. He loved watching Neighborhood Center kids grow up and flourish. Most of all, Mike loved his children Emily, Sarah, and Peter, and was a loving and devoted husband to Liz for 26 happy years.
All are invited to Mike’s Memorial Service on Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 10 AM at Christ Church, 20 N. American St. (2nd and Market Streets), Philadelphia, PA 19106. Following the service, all are encouraged to stay for a reception to greet the family and enjoy the fellowship of Mike’s community. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Neighborhood Center (www.neighborhoodrising.org).