Linda Ann Kelly passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 11, 2017, at her home in Claremont, NH, after spending her final days with her husband and companion of 48 years, Daniel, and cared for by her loving family, daughter Erin and her companion Bret along with his daughter Grace, son Ryan and his wife Julia, son Nathan and his wife Carrie and grandson Ethan, her brother John, and her good friend Chris. Linda is also survived by her brother Ed who lives in North Carolina. Linda is predeceased by her sister, Angel.
Linda was a para-educator at the Bluff Elementary School in Claremont, where she was a reading tutor for her students for 14 years. Linda loved teaching, and her students.
Linda was born in Bridgeport, CT, but her father was military, so the family traveled a lot when she was growing up. She finally settled in south Florida in the Miami area, where she spent most of her youth reading, cheerleading, and making friends. She loved the sun, the beaches, the cultural diversity, and The Beatles.
She met her future husband at a department store in Hollywood, FL, where they both worked for a time, and enjoyed their road trips to the many weekend Pop Festivals throughout the south. They cemented their relationship with their mutual love of 60’s folk rock and blues, the Beatles, Donovan, and the counterculture and social activism of the 60’s and 70’s.
They moved north to Claremont in 1982, looking for a more peaceful environment in which to raise their son, Nathan, and eventually, their 2 additional children, Erin and Ryan.
Linda was an active and compassionate friend and neighbor at their home in the bluff, where neighboring families and their children intermingled at each other’s homes, learned and played together, celebrated holidays and birthdays, joined in organized sports and other events, and Linda was always at the center of the activities, directing and organizing and comforting and encouraging. Her instincts were always to help those who needed help, to teach those who needed to learn, and to love and care for those who needed love and comfort. She was a fierce friend and advocate, and seemed to gravitate toward those who were in need.
Linda was very creative. She made jewelry, created and sold locally many country craft items, and worked on household decorating projects ceaselessly. She collected porcelain and glass, restored small antique lamps, and repurposed small antiques and discarded items with a passionate intensity.
She loved her children and grandchildren. She loved the home she lived in for 32 years. She loved her brothers and her friends. She was loved in turn.
We are thankful that her illness was brief and that she was spared pain and suffering.
There will be a celebration of Linda’s life this Sunday at her son’s and daughter-in-law’s new home at 17 Timson Street, Claremont, from 2pm to 5pm in her honor. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Lake Sunapee VNA and Hospice.
We encourage visitors to bring a short personal message to Linda, simply written on plain paper to be burned at the end of the evening and added to Linda’s ashes. These messages will not be read aloud, but will accompany her throughout her next journey.
We offer this in loving memory.
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