Linda S. Beck, local writer and speaker, went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on October 31, 2018. Because of her disability, it was Linda’s choice to donate her body to the Wake Forest School of Science and Medicine for study by doctors-to-be. There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday, November 10 from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM at Cleveland First Baptist Church in Cleveland, NC.
Because of having written over 500 true stories about her loves, losses, and disabilities, she preferred to be called Linda, or Ms. Linda by many children in her life. Linda was the daughter of Mary Ada Wilson Spry Koontz and never knew her father. Both parents are deceased as is her older brother, Thomas A. Spry and her husband, Joe S. Beck whom she married in June 1965 two weeks after high school graduation.
They were married until Feb. 26, 1993 when Joe passed away with cancer. Linda is survived by her two daughters, Sherry B. Elvington (Jeff), and Sonya B. Parrish (Bill); grandchildren, Heather P. Compton (Brandon), Hannah P. Ruth (Kestler), William Daniel Parrish, Jr. (Megan), Hobie Michael Parrish (Destiny) and Hallie Renee Parrish; great grandchildren, (twins) Kestler Wilson Ruth and Khloe Jean Ruth.
Linda is also survived by her beloved brother, Michael J. Koontz, her sister, Mary Ludwig Tanner (Bill), her nephew, Robbie G. Ludwig (Penny) and her stepsister, Ethel Glore, and other nieces, nephews, and cousins. She still has one aunt in Texas. Linda was blessed with so many loving friends that it is not possible to add all the people she loved and appreciated for their relationships and generosity in helping her survive her life without Joe and other loved ones.
She was also thrilled to have become close friends with many of her readers and Christian friends. As a wife and mother, Linda and Joe were the Woodleaf 4-H leaders for one of the largest clubs in Rowan County and with the help of several other parents a number of Woodleaf 4-H teenagers won trips to Chicago where they also won scholarships. After Joe’s death and the marriages of their daughters, Linda lived alone for the first time in her life.
She sold their home and moved to an apartment with an outdoor pool. Water therapy became her favorite hobby and at age 47 she overcame her fear of water and taught herself to swim, lost weight, and became the healthiest she had been in many years. One friend interested her in becoming a writer, another one got her interested in speaking, and in 1996 she was able to start driving after seven years of depending on others.
The Lord called her to become a speaker for the Christian Women’s Clubs. Linda traveled all over NC, parts of SC, TN, and VA. In March 2002 Linda moved to the handicapped dollhouse built near Woodleaf, continued to drive and speak until July 4th when she had a massive MS attack which resulted in lesions in her brain and T-6 on her spinal column.
A neurologist told her she would probably never be able to stand, walk, swim, float, or drive again. Linda enjoyed doing some of all those things at different times in the following years. She refused to live in fear and trusted that God would call her home in His timing, not hers.
In spite of her numerous health problems, Linda never gave up. She loved “playing” in her beautiful flowers and had several falls from her power chair. The last broken leg opened the door to more findings of additional heart problems and she passed away from pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
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