Linda Anderson

Our beloved Linda, Monny to her grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and many others who loved her, passed away on October 1, 2025 at her home on Lake Hartwell, at the age of 82.

Linda was born June 13th, 1943, in Washington, DC, and grew up in Camp Springs, Maryland. She was an accomplished pianist and flutist, a conscientious student, and a stellar daughter and sister. She spent countless hours with her best friend, Bob, bike, motorcycle and vintage car riding, playing ball, cards, and mumblety-peg, exploring the woods and finding box turtles on "Turtle Pike." A nature girl at heart, Linda had a love for "critters" of every description, both wild and domesticated, a passion she carried throughout her life.

After high school, Linda graduated from the Washington Hospital Center School of Nursing, working for several years in the area as a critical care RN. Her love of airplanes and flying drew her to enlist in the US Air Force; after basic training she was stationed at Tyndall AFB, with hopes of becoming a flight nurse. Soon thereafter, she met Andy (Clyde), they soon married and he was the love of her life for 56 years.

Linda and Andy made Atlanta, his base with Delta Airlines, their home. Linda found complete fulfillment in raising children Jennifer and Jeff and being a foster mom to Joseph, yet found time to spend hours, years as a dedicated volunteer in her community and church, working for decades with Meals on Wheels, the Atlanta soup kitchen, Aware Wildlife Center, Trinity Lutheran Church, Hart Humane Society and numerous other missions. Linda had a true servant's heart coupled with an adventurous spirit. She was always willing to try something new and go places she had never been. Among her many other interests were playing tennis, Bridge, board games, and puzzles of all kinds. The wildlife around her suburban home was endlessly fascinating to Linda, including deer, snakes, and even exotic tortoises which found their way to her yard. Most of all her efforts were dedicated to birds - watching, listening, feeding, learning about and often healing them. Aptly nicknamed 'Mother Nature" by her friends, animals in need of rescuing seemed to find her. Linda always had a 'rehab' box for injured birds and found immense joy releasing them back into their natural habitat when the time came. She was also known to put one of the birds that 'didn't make it' into the freezer, preserving it, to later deliver to Fernbank Science Center for further study. For years she participated in the Cornell Lab Great Backyard Bird Count, a global effort to support the scientific community's research.

Linda was loved by everyone who met her. She was a best friend to so many yet there was always room in her life, her day and her heart for another. She treasured her friends, and they returned her devotion. She treated every human being with dignity and kindness, strangers and friends alike, and inspired people to be the kind of person she was. Her friendships were long-lived, spanning decades, and her kind and generous spirit will be deeply missed.

The family home on Lake Hartwell, where so many weekends, summers and holidays were spent, could best be described as Camp Anderson - Permanent Open House-where everyone was welcomed. Linda treasured the lake life, not for herself but for the opportunity to nurture relationships; from boating, to skiing, to games and meals, shared with her extended family and friends. Countless kids, now grown, learned to water ski because of the hours she spent in the water, helping, supporting and encouraging them.

She loved her family, immediate and extended, with a passion that made every individual feel singular and special. Because they were. Her loss is immeasurable. Linda is survived by her husband, Andy, her daughter, Jennifer and husband Harrison, sister Jenny, her children Lea (Mike) and Ty (Jenn) and husband Tom, grandchildren Eden, Calloway, Ellis, Avery, Chase, Keeley, Maddie, great granddaughter Stella, her beloved brothers and sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews and their families, and special family members Joseph, Stephanie, and Amanda.

Linda is predeceased by her son, Jeff (Jeffrey Dean Anderson), her brother, Walter Griga, and parents, Paul and Magdalene Griga.

Linda lived a life full of love, curiosity, selflessness and quiet conviction. Although she is gone, there are things on this earth that we can do to honor her, things big and small that would bring a smile to her face and joy to her heart-adopt a pet from a shelter, save a turtle, donate blood, become and organ donor. In lieu of flowers, donations in her name can be made to: Hart County Humane Society P. O. Box 1062 Hartwell, GA 30643.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 1:00 PM at the Hart County Botanical Garden, 1277 Elberton Hwy (Hwy 77 South) Hartwell, GA 30643.

Services have been entrusted to Coile Hall Funeral Directors and Crematory of 333 E, Johnson Street, Hartwell, GA.