Shirlene Linkenhoker

Shirlene Ward Linkenhoker
May 17, 1934 – June 13, 2023
Shirlene was born in Paintsville, Kentucky and passed away peacefully in Bedford, Texas. She was named for two aunts, Shirley and Kathleen. She was preceded in death by parents Seldon Hank Ward and Freda Mae Bingham Ward, brothers Seldon Hank Jr (Bud) and William (Bill) Eugene Ward, husband of 58 years Robert Allen Linkenhoker, whom she met at a college football game in West Virginia, and was survived by daughter Robin Lynn Linkenhoker Abrams with husband David Abrams, and daughter Dawn Linkenhoker Martin.
Places Lived:
· Paintsville, KY
· South Charleston, WV
· Fort Worth, TX
· Tulsa, OK
· Bryn Mawr, PA
· Ocean City, NJ
Childhood:
· Had a pet chicken on her farm but was chased frequently by a rooster!
· Known by her friends as a tomboy.
· Attended a 1-room schoolhouse for 8 years.
· Was an "A" student with honors and skipped second grade due to advanced abilities. Those around her noted her high intelligence; she wished it would have been possible to attend college.
Employment:
· Union Carbide chemical company in West Virginia, where she was sometimes up to her elbows in a chemical being used to clean the typewriters, and which later was deemed toxic!
· Retail Credit Company in Fort Worth (later became Equifax)
· Executive Secretary for Tarrant County Sheriff Lon Evans
· Office Manager at "IT" Company that worked EPA contracts, where she worked with sometimes eccentric, sometimes fun PhD's.
Shirlene's Character: Although Shirlene was belittled at home as a child by her father, she fought the resulting poor self-image. When Shirlene was told as a teenager to get a job and start bringing some money into the home, she instead moved to her own apartment and became independent with her first job at age 17 with Union
Carbide in West Virginia. She made her first significant purchase with her own money, also at age 17 – an upright piano she kept with her always. She pushed herself to tolerate uncomfortable situations. She worked for several months in a hospital ER, where she experienced horrific scenes. At several of her jobs, she had a boss who was unpleasant or downright disrespectful, but she learned to stand up to them.
She was very intentional in raising her two daughters differently than the manner in which she was raised.
Shirlene's Loves/Interests:
· Raising her daughters:
o She raised them with love and her strong sense of humor
o She immersed her daughters in many cultural experiences:
§ Attending classical music concerts, sometimes operas, lots of musical plays, Flamenco dancing
§ Encouraged them in piano (Robin) and flute (Dawn) lessons, and in playing in the church bell choir
§ Took Dawn to classes at the Fort Worth science museum to learn about and touch exotic animals
§ Swim lessons
§ Summer camps
§ Took them to the World's Fair in Montreal ("Expo '67")
o She and Robert taught them they could do anything, and consistently encouraged them in their education
§ Shirlene became involved in the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)
§ They helped daughters prepare for spelling bees
§ They were involved with school projects
· Shirlene went to Robin's school to engage the woodshop department to build an element of one project
o Husband Robert often worked on out-of-state engineering contracts, so Shirlene held much of the responsibility of raising her daughters
· Humor: She made people laugh wherever she went. She was especially known for delivering dry one-liners she came up with on a dime, and puns. Her humorous comments came so naturally to her, she was surprised at all the laughter she received and thought what she'd done was "easy."
· Music: She had a musical ear, playing the piano and sometimes singing in 3-part harmony with her daughters. She especially loved the singing of Jerry Vale.
· Travel:
o Going to Egypt was her life dream, and she did that in a big way, made especially exciting for her because the trip was led by a revered Egyptologist who was granted special site accesses. (She made him laugh too!) She and Robert held hands while on camels.
o Nova Scotia, Canada (several times), and Montreal
o Yugoslavia
o Mexico
o Alaska, Florida, California, New York
· Volunteered for many years in the church nursery and at The Goodfellow Fund which helped underprivileged children in Tarrant County
· Very strong command of English: Wrote stories, did advanced crossword puzzles, won 2 newspaper picture captioning contests, scrabble, and highly ranked in West Virginia for typing and short hand.
· Spanish language. She took Spanish classes as an adult.
· Belly dancing (took a class)
· Dogs and baby goats
· Reading and watching thrillers
· Roller skating
· Mosaic tiling
· West Virginia green glass
Other Amazing Facts:
· In Bryn Mawr, trained a wild squirrel to take crackers from her hand, and named the squirrel "Saltine"
· Her cousin Loretta Lynn (yes, the famous singer) visited Shirlene's childhood home in a "holler" once