Linda Rae Allee, 73 years old, passed away on Sunday, July 10, 2022, in her hometown of Marion, Indiana. She was surrounded by family when she ran, without any wheelchair needed, into the arms of Jesus, her personal Savior.
Linda was born on January 19, 1949, in Marion General Hospital. Her mother and father were Valeta and Oran Allee. Her big sisters were Jean and Joanne, and her brother was Rod. Her little sister, Fran, was born four years later.
It soon became apparent that Linda had been born with hydrocephalus, sometimes known as water on the brain. Friends, especially Bill and Nina Howell next door on Marshall Street, who loved Linda as if she were their own daughter, and many from First Friends Church, helped the family cope. Linda’s case was undertaken by specialists at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. After many monthly trips with Linda to Riley, though, her parents were gently told that no treatment was known for this disorder and that death was to be expected.
In what seemed miraculous, however, Linda did not die of hydrocephalus. Her doctors at Riley, while joyous, were stumped by her reprieve. Those doctors told her family that there was no hope and that it somehow just stopped!
Linda was left with an enlarged head. She had never been able to crawl. She “scooted” across floors before finally learning to walk, which remained difficult for her. The fact that she was functionally and visibly impaired led her to seek other ways of connecting, of contributing to the lives of others, and she found it. Linda had an extraordinary ability to make friends. When asked about this, she would simply reply, “Well, I try.” Being a good friend marked her life. It also earned her scores of close friends in return.
She navigated Washington School from kindergarten through junior high, where her indomitable and generous spirit was rewarded. One annual Field Day on the playground, for instance, her classmates conspired to make sure Linda won the 50-yard dash race. Linda made friends.
After junior high, Linda attended Friendsville Academy, a small Quaker school near Maryville, Tennessee. She attended William Penn College in Iowa and Friends Bible College in Kansas before returning to Marion where she worked as a teacher at Kiddyland Kollege Child Care Center, which was owned by her parents. She vacationed with her family to see many of the states, and she spent a few weeks in Israel with her mother, cleaning artifacts at an archaeological dig with Professor Wilbur Williams.
Then, just as she was turning 30, Linda suffered the pain and fears of a resumption of the hydrocephalus. By this time, the first actual treatment had been invented, the “hydrocephalus shunt”. Implanted in the head, it shunts excess fluid into the lower body where it is harmlessly drained. Linda underwent the operation, but it was followed by a stroke that paralyzed her left side.
After her mother died in 1984, Linda, who was wheelchair bound, moved to a nursing home, a setting in which her ability to be a good friend was especially appreciated. Almost forty years she listened, held hands, generally found an excuse for laughing, and missed virtually none of the recreation activities. In 1994, she moved to Bradner Village nursing home (which later became Miller’s Merry Manor). She would not move again, and she held the titles as the home’s longest-tenured resident and, no doubt, Marion’s all-time Bingo champion before her heart finally gave out.
Linda was preceded in death by her mother and father; sisters, Jean Deal and Joanne Phillips; and two nieces.
She is survived by her sister, Fran (Jack) Hart; brother, Rod (Jean) Allee; 12 nieces and nephews; and a nice flock of grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
Linda did not want “a big deal” funeral. A service will be held for family only, followed by burial in the family plot at Gardens of Memory. Linda said she would be very happy to see her mother and father again.
Memorial contributions may be made to Gilead Ministries, 212 N. Baldwin Ave., P.O. Box 134, Marion, IN 46952.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Needham-Storey-Wampner Funeral Service, North Chapel, 1341 N. Baldwin Ave., Marion, IN.
Memories may be shared online at www.nswcares.com.
To send flowers to the family of Linda, please visit our floral store.