Linda M. Schell passed away suddenly on July 6, 2018, to be with her Lord in Heaven.
During her 76 years, Linda dedicated her life to her family, her students, her church community, her love of golf and, most of all, Jesus Christ.
Linda taught sixth grade at Ferguson Elementary School for nearly 30 years and continued as a substitute at that school for 18 additional years, occasionally getting her granddaughter and grandson in her classrooms.
Linda was an extremely active and beloved member of New Horizon Christian Fellowship as well as a member of the school board for New Horizon Christian School. She was also an avid supporter of many local charities, especially the Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank and The Salvation Army.
In 1999, Linda retired from teaching. She also retired her signature yellow 1969 Chevy Impala affectionately nicknamed "Old Yeller" by friends, colleagues and students. A major reason for both retirements was the birth of her first grandchild, Gillian, in Salem, Ore. There was no way the old Chevy could dependably make the trip over the mountains, so Old Yeller was swapped for the "Blue Roo," her first of many Subaru wagons over the next 20 years. Those cars also became event shuttles for her next grandkids, Grace and Logan, who lived just down the road from her and became increasingly active in school and sports.
When she wasn't working with her church, her school or toting friends and grandkids to appointments and events, Linda could most often be found on the golf course. She'd been a member of Harbor Links since the late 1980s and, as her game improved over the years, she regularly won or placed in events at that course as well as Running Y and Shield Crest.
Her love of golf also led her on travels across the country as she played as many different courses as she could and collected a golf ball from each as a keepsake.
Linda was born in Lynn, Mass., just before the U.S. entered World War II. She grew up in the Boston suburbs with her parents, brother and sister. When she wasn't in school, Linda and her family migrated to the water, either the Atlantic seaboard at Revere Beach or to cottages on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Her parents eventually purchased a cottage nicknamed "Fairmount" in Alton Bay.
Aside from school and the Girl Scouts, her time was spent water skiing, snow skiing, roller skating, ice skating, swimming, babysitting for neighbors, and waitressing. When asked to describe her childhood, Linda would tell anyone it was charmed.
Linda decided to pursue a career in teaching after high school and earned her master's degree in education from Salem State College. During that time, she landed a teaching position at E.J. Harrington School in Lynn and met Gene Parker, whom she married in 1966. Over the next several years, they both found teaching jobs in Klamath County and had two boys, Wayne and David.
She leaves behind her son and daughter-in-law, David and Christy Parker of Klamath Falls; son, Wayne Parker, and his wife, Amy Klaus of Salem; three grandchildren, Gillian, Grace and Logan; and sister, Norma Martin. She was preceded in passing by her parents, Kenneth and Mary Callis, and brother, Paul Callis. She also leaves an aunt and uncle and several cousins, nieces and nephews.
Linda's memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 14, 2018, at New Horizon Christian Fellowship. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to New Horizon Christian School or the Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank.
If Linda could have left a goodbye note, it would surely tell her friends and family that she loves them. And for them and everyone else, she'd sign off with a most heartfelt "Jesus loves you."
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Published in Herald And News on July 12, 2018
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