Linda Hawkes Lyon Dunn

Obituary

Linda Hawkes Lyon Dunn, 79

Linda Hawkes Lyon Dunn, 79, peacefully passed away from cancer on Thursday, April 29, 2021, at her home in Blackfoot under the loving care of her husband, Ralph Dunn. Linda was born on February 24, 1942, in Pocatello, Idaho, to Morgan and Iva Hawkes. She loved growing up with her seven siblings in the beautiful foothills of Pocatello. She attended Pocatello High School. On August 7, 1959, she was sealed in the Idaho Falls temple to Blaine “Len” McLennan Lyon, Jr., also a Pocatello resident. The couple first moved to Japan as Blaine served in the U.S. Navy. They then spent several years in California and Washington as Blaine continued his naval career. Upon his retirement from the U.S. Navy, they returned to Idaho and settled first in Rose and then in Blackfoot. They were married for 42 years and were blessed with five children: Larry, Leon, Lynette, Lisa, and Loren. Linda always had a kind and charitable heart. She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many callings over the years, but most notably she loved being a nursery and primary leader. Linda had a penchant for connecting with children, as well as tenderly caring for the elderly. She enjoyed volunteering at the local elementary school and at elderly care centers. She was always baking cookies or taking meals around the neighborhood to serve those in need. Linda also enjoyed gardening, quilting, scrapbooking, handicraft, and collecting pig pictures for her notorious “pig” bathroom. Blaine passed away unexpectedly on July 15, 2001, in the Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, Idaho. In the months and years that followed while Linda was single, she enjoyed going on bus trips, touring around and attending various temples in Idaho and Utah, actively participating in the Red Hat Society and Daughter’s of the Utah Pioneers, and occasionally traveling a little further from home to visit her children and grandchildren. In 2017, she became reacquainted with an old friend from high school, Ralph Dunn, who had lost his first wife, Kathy, to Alzheimer’s. Linda and Ralph started dating and married on January 1, 2018. Ralph also has five children: Corwin, Kirk, Joe, Camille, and Richard, so the happy couple had a combined family of 10 children, 35 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren. Ralph and Linda spent a few wonderful years together enjoying special family events, traveling around the Intermountain West, and attending plays and other cultural events. In late July 2020, Linda was diagnosed with glioblastoma—a terminal brain cancer. Since the day of her diagnoses until the day of her passing, Ralph has been her faithful companion and caregiver with the children rallying around them both to love and support. Linda is survived by her husband, Ralph; their 10 children: Larry (Isabel) Lyon of Idaho Falls, ID; Leon (Shauna) Lyon of Hopper, UT; Lynette (Ruben) Spangenthal of Cleveland, TX; Lisa (Brian) Daems of Nazareth, PA; Loren (Petra) Lyon of Pocatello, ID; Corwin (Lezley) Dunn of Blackfoot, ID; Kirk (Lyndell) Dunn of Denver, CO; Joe (Deborah) Dunn of Grants Pass, OR; Camille (Peter) Neibert of St. George, UT; and Rich (Kambrel) Dunn of Blackfoot, ID; their 35 grandchildren; their 9 great-grandchildren, and her siblings Joseph Hawkes, Mary Beth Otto, Gaylia Tanner, David Hawkes, and Donna Phippin. Linda is preceded in death by her first husband, Blaine “Len” McLennan Lyon, Jr., her parents, Morgan and Iva Hawkes, and her two sisters, Julie Hawkes and LeeAnn Dayton.

The children would like to publicly thank Ralph who cared for Linda’s every need, as well as the caregivers of Hands of Hope Hospice, thus allowing her to stay in her home, which she loved.

A viewing will be held from 6-8 pm on Friday, May 7, 2021, at Hawker Funeral Home, 132 South Shilling Ave., Blackfoot, ID. Funeral services will be held at 11 am on Saturday, May 8, 2021, at the Hawker Funeral Home, 132 South Shilling Ave., Blackfoot, ID, with a viewing beginning 1 hour prior to the service, starting at 10 am at the funeral home. The burial will be at the Grove City Cemetery immediately following the funeral. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.hawkerfuneralhome.com.

Those friends and loved ones that prefer to stay home can watch the service on a live broadcast. The service can be viewed at  https://www.hawkerfuneralhome.com/page/broadcasting.