Linda Kay French, 72, passed peacefully in her sleep at home, joining her Lord, on Friday, September 15th, 2023.
Linda was born on May 11, 1951, in Kansas City, Kansas. At eight, her family moved to Toledo, OH. She finished high school in Toledo and then went to Bowling Green University in Ohio. She was a member and President of the Beta Sigma Phi chapter at the university. In 1973, Linda moved to the Washington DC area to take a job with the FBI. She married her true love and life companion, David (Wayne) French, in 1984 in Springfield, VA and spent 39 years accompanying him on his military career and political adventures. Linda and David loved to travel and to explore new places. Their passion was finding great wines and wineries around the world and in the United States. Together they visited 44 States and 18 countries.
Linda spent her life in many interesting jobs as a bank teller in Toledo, Ohio (5th/3th Bank) and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (Army National Bank); FBI file clerk in Washington DC; police officer in Fairfax County, VA; police dispatcher in Fairfax; police substation front desk clerk in Fairfax; supporting the Army Community Service as volunteer supervisor in Italy and Germany; vehicle registration front desk receptionist in Germany; real estate secretary for broker at Century 21 in Leavenworth; real estate agent for ERA in Leavenworth; real estate agent assistant with Coldwell Banker in Leavenworth; travel agent/office manager for both leisure and commercial travel at Leavenworth Travel Agency; travel agent for leisure travel clients with Shelton Travel Agency on the Plaza, KCMO; and travel coordinator for the Super Fund Division of the EPA (Region 7). She was President of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Association for four years. She was a member of the Lansing American Legion Post 411 Auxiliary. She was a graduate of the Lansing Citizens Academy and the Leavenworth County Sherriff’s Academy.
Linda’s favorite hobby was singing. She sang in church and community choirs (one with an Italian choir in Italy) her whole life. However, the hobby turned into a vocation when in 1995 she joined Sweet Adelines International, an international organization of women barbershop singers, as a member of a small chorus in Germany. On returning to the United State, Linda joined the Kansas City Chorus of Sweet Adelines. This chorus, with over 120 women, was a top ten chorus of Sweet Adelines choruses in the world. Linda was in the Kansas City Chorus for 18 years and competed on the international stage seven times placing in the top five on five of those appearances. As well as singing in the Sweet Adeline choruses, Linda sang in five different quartets in regional competitions. She sang in many more pick-up quartets for special events. She finally had to give up competing in Sweet Adelines when her health would not allow her to give the 100 percent she wanted to give.
Linda jumped into the political arena late in her life but became an avid activist in local politics. She was Campaign Treasurer for four Kansas State Representatives and one Lansing School Board member. She had been the Republican Precinct Committeewoman for Lansing Ward 4 until this year. She served as the Vice President and current President of the Leavenworth County Republican Women. She was an active supporter of her husband in his two terms in the Kansas Legislature as State Representative for the Kansas House 40th District (Lansing and Leavenworth).
Linda was preceded in death by her parents, Donald W. Anthony and Majorie (Lifsey) Anthony in Toledo, Ohio. She is survived by her husband in Lansing, Kansas and a brother, Donald B. Anthony, in North Vencie, Florida. She has a stepdaughter, Ginger Denise Lucus, and a step grandson, Alex Beard, both in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Linda French will be buried at the Leavenworth Veterans Administration in the National Cemetery, Friday, September 29th,2023 at 12:30 PM following a funeral service at 11:00 AM at Calvary Baptist Church in Leavenworth. It will be a closed casket service at the church. A friends and family viewing is scheduled at Davis Funeral Chapel from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Thursday, September 28, 2023. There will be a Celebration of Linda’s Life reception from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM following a graveside service at the cemetery on September 29, 2023.
