Linda Wall, 68, of Buellton died Dec. 19, 2013, from fatal injuries sustained in a horrific car crash.
Linda was born March 3, 1945, in Santa Barbara. She was the oldest of six children.
Linda attended Marymount Catholic High School and graduated in 1963, then attended Marquette University in Wisconsin in 1967, fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming a teacher.
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and French, and then set off to follow her dream as a teacher at her alma mater, Marymount high school. Later, Linda became a foreign language teacher at Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara.
In 1968, she met the love of her life, Bob Wall, and married him and started a family. The family moved to Texas in the early 1980s where she taught at Hondo and Bandera High Schools.
The family returned to California in 1990 where she began teaching Spanish and French at her beloved Santa Ynez Valley High School. She absolutely loved her students, fellow teachers, and colleagues at Santa Ynez Valley High School. Linda often mentioned that she loved the institution of teaching.
She recently retired from the Santa Ynez Valley High School in June of 2012. This was extra special to Linda because her granddaughter, Jessie, of whom she was very proud, also graduated from high school at this time. She retired after 38 years of teaching, 22 of those years at SYVHS.
In retirement, Linda was looking forward to traveling, enjoying time with her husband of 43 years, Bob, and playing with their new grandson, RJ.
Linda and Bob had wonderful plans for their time together including spending the warmer half of the year in their beautiful summer home in Michigan, “Camp”, and half the year in California.
Linda’s love for her family was unprecedented. Linda was known to have a sweet, loving smile and a witty sense of humor by her friends and colleagues. She was extraordinarily intelligent and a leader both in the classroom and at home. She touched so many lives and will be sorely missed by all.
Linda is survived by her husband, Bob Wall; daughters Erica Wall and Molly Foster; son Rob Wall; son-in-law Ryan Foster; grandchildren Jessie Wall and RJ Foster; and a special nephew she and Bob helped raise, Dylan (Julie) Cortez.
She is also survived by her sisters, Rita Cortez, Virginia Bryant; brother Mark Cortez; mother-in-law Jean Wall; sister-in-laws Pat Wall, Susie Snow, and Dymphna Harrigan; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, students and family in Utah.
She was preceded in death by her two fathers — birth father Earl McCallister, a lieutenant fighter pilot who was killed in action aboard the U.S.S. Aircraft Carrier Bennington, and the man who raised her, Larry Cortez; her mother, Margaret (Peggy) Cortez; siblings David and Mary Cortez; brother-in-law Harold Snow; and our very special Corey Gray, the mother of her granddaughter Jessie.
Funeral services were held at Old Mission Santa Ines on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013, at 10 a.m., with a reception following in the Parish Hall.