Linda Hardy Zahnd, 90, passed away peacefully on November 18, 2022. She was born May 11, 1932 to H. Russell and Dorothy Maud (Gore) Hardy in Hull, Illinois, and lived most of her childhood in St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Normandy High School in 1950 and enrolled at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, where she was initiated into the Beta Sigma Omicron Sorority and was a member of Panaegis. She met her future husband, L. Glen Zahnd of Savannah, Missouri, there. They were wed on June 1, 1953 at Second Baptist Church in Liberty, where they attended during their college years.
Linda finished her senior year as a married woman while Glen began compulsory military service. She graduated with a teaching degree, and the couple moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she taught second grade. Upon Glen’s discharge from the Army the following year, they moved to St. Louis. Linda taught third grade for three years in the same school district she had attended as a child, while Glen studied for and obtained a law degree from Washington University School of Law.
Linda and Glen moved back to Glen’s hometown of Savannah in 1958, where Glen practiced law for nearly three decades before becoming a judge. They raised three children and were very active in the First Baptist Church of Savannah, rarely missing a service. Linda was involved in many church activities, including Women’s Missionary Union and Vacation Bible School. She was a member of Chapter EJ of the PEO Sisterhood, where she served as president for three years, and Semper Fidelis. She also served on the board of the Andrew County Museum.
Linda worked for decades as a substitute teacher in the Savannah School District and was well known as a teacher who demanded classroom decorum, respectful behavior, and would not even tolerate gum-chewing. To this day, however, many former students recall her as their favorite substitute teacher. Her students knew how much she cared for them.
Glen passed away in June 2009, and Linda continued to live in Savannah, remaining active in her church and community life. She lived in Savannah for 59 years, 54 of them in the same house, before moving to McCrite Plaza at Briarcliff in Kansas City in 2017. Immediately upon moving, she transferred her church membership back to Second Baptist Church in Liberty, where she had attended and was married more than six decades earlier. Life had come full circle.
In addition to Glen and her parents Russell and Dorothy, Linda was preceded in death by her brother, Hilera Marcus Hardy, and a brother-in-law, Larry Lee Zahnd.
She is survived by her three children: Brian (Peri) Zahnd of St. Joseph; Melissa (Douglas) Hartwell of Overland Park, Kansas; and Eric (Tracy) Zahnd of Platte Woods. She has eight grandchildren: Caleb (Ashlie) Zahnd of St. Joseph; Aaron (Sarah) Zahnd of St. Joseph; Paul (Julianna) Hartwell of Ankeny, Iowa; Cynthia (Drew) Szczesny; Philip (Sarah Rose) Zahnd of Fort Collins, Colorado; Benjamin Zahnd of Platte Woods; Audrey Hartwell of Overland Park; and Luke Zahnd of Platte Woods.
She also leaves behind eleven great-grandchildren: Jude Andrew Zahnd; Mercy Regina Zahnd; Finn Hardy Zahnd; Hope Lynn Zahnd; Evey Merie Zahnd; Pax Wesley Zahnd; Liam Ronald Zahnd; Honor Glen Zahnd; Cora Ray Hartwell; Lila Marie Hartwell; and Amelia Rose Szczesny.
She is also survived by sisters-in-law Carole Zahnd of Kansas City and Judy Hardy Olson of Westport, Connecticut, as well as a brother-in-law, James (Judy) Zahnd of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. There are numerous nieces and nephews.
Private Graveside Service and Interment. The family will gather with friends 4:30 to 6:30 P.M. Monday, November 21, First Baptist Church, Savannah, Mo. There also will be a Memorial Service and Public Livestream 3:00 P.M. Tuesday, December 13, First Baptist Church, Savannah, Mo.
