Linda Reinhardt

Linda was born in 1935 in Chicago, Illinois, where she was raised by her parents with her younger sister. After graduating from Steinmetz High School, she attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where she was active in Delta Gamma sorority and met her future husband, Charlie Reinhardt, while he attended nearby Wabash College. They were married in Illinois in 1956. They lived in Indiana, Texas, and Ohio before settling in Wilmington, Delaware, where they raised their four children.

Linda was a loving and devoted wife and mother. When her children were young, she enjoyed making their clothes and hosting parties for them and their friends. She supported them in their wide-ranging activities and was an active participant in their school community. An excellent cook and generous hostess, she prepared wonderful meals, from daily school lunches and family gatherings around the dinner table to elaborate luncheons and dinner parties for friends. Linda also loved to bake and became known as “The Cookie Queen” for making and sharing countless cookies, especially the many varieties of Christmas cookies she made each year.

Linda was creative and expressed her significant artistic talent through gardening, flower arranging, and needlework. She was a member of her local garden club and became an avid and expert gardener, designing beautiful landscapes and gardens and carefully selecting and tending all kinds of plants. She also delighted in and excelled at needlework and was active for many years in the Brandywine Chapter of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America; many of her prize-winning pieces adorn her family’s homes. She loved music and theatre and enjoyed playing tennis, traveling, and ballroom dancing with Charlie.

As a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Linda regularly attended services and participated in a variety of church activities, contributing as a deacon and as a Stephen Minister and serving people in need through local and international mission projects, including a trip to Africa. Especially meaningful to Linda was the multiracial fiber artists group she helped establish among women from Westminster and Community Presbyterian Churches, and the ongoing friendships they developed. Linda was known for her loving care of others and, in 2005, was named Westminster’s Woman of the Year.

Linda found community, love, and joy among the many friends she made in all of her pursuits. Above all, the love of her life was her family: Charlie; her children, Amy (Chuck), Jeff (Melinda), Meg (Don), and Jane (Matt); six grandchildren, Kate (Travis), Michelle (Dylan), Christian (Alli), Emma, Adam (Kirsten), and Andrew (Carly); and three great-grandchildren. She cherished their company and the many vacations and adventures they shared.

After spending their retirement years in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, Linda lived most recently with Charlie at Kendal at Longwood in Kennett Square.