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Obituary of Linda Sue Waud
Dr. Linda Waud (Nauta), beloved wife, sister, mother, and grandmother, passed away January 25, 2024 at the age of 82.
Linda was born in San Diego, California and raised in Waukegan, IL. She graduated from Waukegan High School in 1959 and graduated from Miami University in 1964. While at Miami, she met and married Neil Jones.
Linda and Neil moved to Indianapolis, where their daughter, Kristin, was born in 1965. Their son, Peter, was born in 1970 in Birmingham, Michigan. In 1971, they moved to Hudson, Ohio where they spent the next 24 years. During that time, youngest son, Mitchell, was born in 1975. Linda’s faith was strong and consistent throughout her life. She was a deaconess at the First
Congregational Church in Hudson for many years. On Sunday mornings, you would typically see her walking with her family down Aurora Street to the church for service, a smile on her face after successfully guilting her children into joining her.
She was a great decorator and artist. She was extremely proud to have her house featured in the Hudson Home and Garden tour. She took watercolor lessons arom a local celebrity, Lowell Ellsworth Smith.
In addition to practicing her faith, she actively demonstrated it by serving the community through church and becoming a board member at the Akron Children’s Hospital. During that time, she served on many committees and ran the gift shop. For several years, she also ran a favorite local summer activity for kids called “Art in the Park.”
Living in Hudson was a great time for Linda, as she was surrounded by many close friends. She loved tennis, crafting, having lunch with friends, and visiting her local library. When she turned 52, her tennis group disbanded and she tried to get the group to pick up an alternative hobby so they could stay together. She suggested they all sign up for a class. In the end, she went by herself and took a psychology course at Kent State University. She liked it so much that she decided to take another… and another.
At her 35th high school reunion, after separating from Neil, Linda ran into her first love from High School, Ben Waud. The reconnection was quick and intense. Before long, she packed up her belongings and moved out to a beautiful condo in Foster City, California with Ben. There, she continued to take psychology classes and finally earned her Master’s Degree and
Doctorate. Her dissertation, on first love attachment, was inspired, of course, by her reconnection with Ben.
In California, Linda began working at Alta Vista High School, an alternative high school for students whose needs were not met by a traditional high school. Linda developed an incredibly successful mentoring program that is still in place. She had more heart-warming stories than you could imagine - kids who were the first in their families to graduate high school, and kids
whose mentors provided them with the support they were not getting at home. She found and inspired mentors from all different walks of life in the greater Palo Alto area. In about 2007, we discovered that Ben had Parkinson’s disease. Linda did her best to help Ben continue their lives in the Bay Area, but eventually the disease progressed to the point where it was necessary to move to a single-level home. Ben, understanding that Linda would most likely outlive him, insisted that they move near her family so she would have support. In 2015, they moved to Melbourne Beach, Florida, just two miles from Linda’s sister Karen.
Linda and Ben’s lives became more complicated by health issues, but they were able to spend most of their time together, holding hands, and enjoying their view of the water. In 2019, Linda was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, a terrible disease that affects cognition as well as muscle control. It’s kind of a combination of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Looking back,
however, there were signs that the disease had begun to take hold earlier. As Ben’s body deteriorated, Linda’s mind was failing. They joked that, together, they’d make one healthy person.
When Ben passed away in March 2022, Linda’s health began a steady decline. Fortunately, she was surrounded by her sister and brother-in-law, Karen Miller Ferrante and Joe Ferrante, the best neighbors ever, Nancy Williamee and her sister, Ginny, and three amazing caregivers, Lauryn Johnson, Nicole Rose, and Betia Rojas, who kept her as engaged and comfortable as
possible. As her disease progressed, there were still plenty of times when she would say something hilarious and everyone around would laugh really hard.
Linda loved with her whole heart, and she will be missed dearly until we are together again. Linda is survived by sisters: Sally Minnix, and Karen Miller (Joseph) Ferrante, Children: Kristin Jones, Peter (Cherryl) Jones, Mitchell (Frances) Jones, and step-son, Christopher (Amy) Waud. Grandchildren: Katherine (Aaron) Slatton, Marian O’Hara, Jillian O’Hara, Angela Jones, Audrey Jones, Gibson Jones, Claire Jones, Molly Jones, Wyatt Waud, Austin Waud, and Ryder Waud. And…. one GREAT-grandchild on the way!
She is predeceased by her loving parents Howard and Marian (Jenner) Nauta, her younger brother, Douglas Nauta, and, of course, her adored-by-all husband of 25 years, Charles “Ben” Waud.
