Linda Lee Rice
September 1, 1943 - December 25, 2024
Obituary
Linda was born September 1, 1943 in Springfield, Missouri. Her parents were John Garcia and Dorothy Hutchins. Linda had two younger brothers Jerry and Larry. Linda married Leonard Rice in December of 1965. Linda had 4 children, Lenny, Larry, Dorothy & Johnny. They moved to Seattle in early 1966. Dad would divorce mom in 1971 leaving mom to raise the four of us without much if any help. Linda was attacked at an early age which caused her to have seizures for the rest of her life. Linda would go to Highline College and get her cake decorating certificate and work for several years as a decorator in a bakery in Des Moines. Because of the seizures she would eventually lose that job, there were times later on when meds would help, but due to the severity of the seizures she would be unable to work but that didn’t stop her from making cakes for pretty much anyone and everyone. Growing up that is what her kids would do, mix the cake batter or make up the frosting or of course our favorite, eat the extra cake that was left after she would cut the tops off to level out the cake.
Mom would continue to make cakes for just about anyone or any occasion, she especially loved to make theme cakes for not only her kids, but later on her grandchildren and then her great grandchildren.
Linda loved Jesus and being somewhat new to the area and with 4 kids she would eventually make her way to BPPC in the mid 70’s. According to what mom had written down, it was mainly in part due to Sharon B. (Richards at the time) inviting her to the single adult bible study & later Jan A. and her talking on the way to a Billy Graham revival. She would find a fantastic group of men and women here and would bring us kids and pray that we would not cause too much trouble as we often did. Mom loved to sing and sang in the choir for years until her vocal cord disorder would prevent her from singing out loud, but she would always sing in her heart. I think that she would say that this was the hardest disability to deal with because it made it so difficult to talk and be understood at times. She didn’t however let this stop her from talking.
Linda served in many different areas here at BPC, she was a deaconess, wedding coordinator, and she would love to spend time with Kathy and would “help” in the office whenever she could. After Larry & Sandy got involved in Awana it was hard to keep Linda away as she wanted to be with the kids & adults and encourage them and pray for them. Linda practiced what she preached and earned her Citation award in Awana which is the highest award that you can earn, it is the accumulation of 10 years of Bible reading and scripture memorization, over 800 verses.
In our eyes mom was the biggest prayer warrior in our lifetime and she would not pass up a chance to pray for you or your family or co-worker. Mom also loved to bless you with a card for whatever reason she deemed important. Mom was the biggest cheerleader for her kids, grandkids and great grandkids. She would never miss a chance if she could help it to attend a sporting event or whatever special event we had going on to encourage and praise us.
Linda is survived by her sister in law Sue Le, brother Larry (wife Barbara), her children, Lenny (wife Denise), Larry (wife Sandy), Dorothy and Johnny. Grandkids, Rebecca (Husband Josh), Anthony (wife Reagan), Nicole (husband Spencer), Josh (wife Natalie), Angelica, Bryan, Derek & great grandkids, Kali, Kinsley, Emma, Cedric, Eli and numerous nieces and nephews.
I met Linda through Larry and Sandy in early 1980’s (high school days). Linda was a kind, pleasant and interesting person. Loved to get to know the kid’s friends. A great love for her kids and protecting them. Very creative and liked sharing anything she could knowledge, baking, crafting. She had a huge heart and didn’t let obstacles get in her path. She overcame a lot in life, but it shows how strong her will was and her soul never gave up.
Linda always remembered our anniversary and sent us congratulations! She would do this for so many, and it was impressive.
I remember the joy and pride she had earning her Citation. ❤️
She will be missed by many. She was one of His saints! We will see her again one day. Prayer warrior would be how I would describe her. Rest in His peace Linda!
We didn’t know her well, but Linda always made such a positive impression whenever we would run into her somewhere (usually when she was out with Lenny.) She was always so loving and friendly, we will miss seeing her!
What can I say about aunt Linda? She was such an amazing woman. She’s always there for me when I needed someone to talk to. She tell me stories about my mom. Anytime I needed to hear them. She would give good good advice and should pray for me, she loved talking about my mom And telling me stories about her and how my mom would try to protect me. She like telling me about Jesus, when I told her I learned how to crochet she was so happy she said that she wish she could show me more stitches and how to make more designs than what the one I knew When I got married, she wanted to be there, but she couldn’t
I met Linda in 1960 at Lawrence High School, Lawrence, Kansas, and we graduated in 1961.
We have kept in touch since that time—65 years=a lifetime. We always followed KU’s sports, attended our class reunions & I visited
her once in Seattle for dinner before departing on a cruise ship. She was a devout
Christian & lived her life accordingly. I will miss our many conversations, cards & letters.
She was a Special Friend!
Will always remember her smiles at the AWANA Welcome desk, her love for the kids there, and how she always remembered our anniversary.