With family by her side singing the Doxology, Linda Kay Thomas, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, passed early Friday morning, April 10, 2026, into the arms of the Lord with whom she had walked so closely her whole life.

Linda was born June 27, 1947, to Margaret Kathleen and Gerald Bartholomew in Spokane, Washington. Her family, including her two younger brothers who she loved very much, Douglas and David, moved to Seattle in 1955. The Pacific Northwest was always the place Linda considered home. She grew up attending Calvin Presbyterian Church in what is now Shoreline, Washington, and at a youth group event at Richmond Beach met her future husband of 58 years, David Thomas. Dave and Linda were married at Calvin on November 4, 1967, and they shared a lifetime of love, faithfulness, and adventure. Linda became a mother, a role she cherished and in which she thrived, in November of 1969 when their son Matthew was born, and in September of 1971 their daughter Karen completed their family. Linda was a loving, devoted, wise, and enduring mother for the rest of her life.

In 1976, she and Dave joined Wycliffe Bible Translators, and the family spent the next three years helping linguists and their families in Lomalinda, Colombia, in South America. Although it was not something Linda ever dreamed of doing, and it required a good deal of courage, adaptability, and faith, she made life-long friends and found it a profoundly meaningful experience, eventually writing a beautiful memoir detailing the journey of faith and many adventures she encountered during that time.

From 1979 until 1993 Linda and Dave raised their children in Port Angeles, Washington and Linda enjoyed these years being active in church, Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), and countless hours of youth sports. She was a part of First Presbyterian Church and Independent Bible Church and served in several different leadership roles with BSF, including the intensive work of being the teaching leader for several years. She also finished her Associate of Arts during this time at Peninsula College, earning her degree in journalism, and had the chance to visit Scotland twice on family history trips led by her mom. Wherever Linda went she found ways to build relationships and encourage others. Neighbors and friends were regular additions to her dinner table and knew they were welcomed and loved. This was also a cherished season of memories with the Thomas and Bartholomew families who were mostly in the Seattle area. Linda enjoyed the trips across the Hood Canal Bridge and Washington State Ferries to visit family, and precious traditions and memories were created and savored. She loved taking in the beautiful mountains, ocean, and forest that characterize the Pacific Northwest, and adored the traditions of holiday dinners and family gatherings filled with delicious food, warm conversation, and loving laughter and life.

In 1993 she and Dave set off on another adventure with Wycliffe, this time to Kenya (with many travels throughout Africa), where they would spend the next eight years. Linda served in the communications department, producing numerous publications and videos to communicate the special work of Bible translation that was being done. She thrived in this role, putting her love of writing to work in earnest, and encouraging the many people from around the world she got to know. She made deep friendships with people there, both Kenyan and expats, and continued to pray for and support them for the rest of her life.

When they came back to the United States in 2001, Linda was pleased to be back home in Washington, this time closer to her early childhood roots in Eastern Washington where she and Dave would spend the next seven years. During these years, Linda thrived as a grandma, savoring time and making memories with her six grandchildren. She loved to tell people that her son had three daughters and her daughter had three sons, and she delighted in them all. She also began writing her first memoir, Grandma's Letters from Africa about her years in Kenya drawn from letters she wrote for her grandchildren.

In 2008, when Dave retired, they moved to Warrensburg, Missouri where her son's family lived. She was thrilled to be able to be extra involved in her granddaughters' lives and savored crafts, projects, and meals with them as well as cheering them on in their musical and athletic endeavors. She was also working diligently on her writing, completing and publishing her first memoir, and later writing her second, Please, God, Don't Make Me Go , which chronicled her experiences in South America. She engaged actively in writing groups locally and online. She believed deeply in the importance of sharing our stories and "remembering what God has done" throughout the generations. She taught memoir writing classes, and established a blog to help others with their writing and encourage others to see the spiritual significance of writing their stories and passing them down to future generations. In every environment, Linda made meaningful friendships with people across the country, always uplifting and finding ways to share her love of them, her love of story, and her love of God.

In 2013 Linda and Dave bought a small house in Southern California near her daughter's family, and for the next seven years, they divided time between Missouri and California, relishing the time with their children and grandchildren in both places. They, along with their faithful border collie, Moja, drove back and forth three times a year to enjoy time with both families and communities. During their times in California they were active participants in her daughter's family's church, The Malibu Gathering, where Linda developed strong friendships, helped with ladies' ministry, and even got to teach her memoir class, all while eagerly attending all their grandsons' games and school events. During these years, she also had the joy of watching her two oldest granddaughters get married, took on countless fun projects with her youngest granddaughter, and she and Dave celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2017.

Even though she would have been happy staying in the Pacific Northwest, she counted it an adventurous blessing to live abroad and in a variety of places across the United States. She felt privileged to have the opportunity to travel extensively in North and South America, Europe, and Africa.

For the last six years, Linda and Dave stayed in Warrensburg, but Linda remained active online with The Malibu Gathering and her friends from around the country. She continued to write and research family history, even taking her extended family on a trip to the east coast where they traced the family history in great detail. She courageously handled various health issues, hosted family and friends, and prayed faithfully for her loved ones near and far. In May of 2025 she was diagnosed with cancer and handled the various treatments and complications with tremendous grace, dignity, and good humor, continuing through the very end to invest deeply in others and write, pray, and encourage every step of the way.

She is preceded in death by many friends and family she is eager to see again, including her mother and father, and her brother, Douglas. She is survived by many family and friends who she is also eager to see again, including her brother David Bartholomew, husband David Thomas, son Matthew (Jill), Thomas, daughter Karen Kelly (Brian), granddaughters Maggie Fischer (Nik), Emma Thomas (Levi), Claire Thomas, grandsons Chase, Finn, and Kade Kelly, great grandsons Theodore and Charles Fischer, and many nephews and nieces and other beloved family members.

For many years Linda has requested, rather than a traditional funeral, having a family gathering on Richmond Beach, her favorite place in the world, and she left us some specific directions: "Do it on a warm summer evening. Build a big driftwood bonfire. . ." "Maybe you'd like to gather shells and make a wreath or store them in a bottle to remember me and the evening. . ." "Sing praises to God while you watch the sun go down."

In lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Linda could be made to organizations such as these that were important to her:

Amani Ya Juu: https://amaniafrica.org/pages/donations

The Malibu Gathering and Rancho Malibu Christian School: https://www.malibugathering.org/give

The University of Central Missouri: https://www.ucmfoundation.org/giving/

St. Luke's Hospice House: https://www.saintlukeskc.org/locations/saint-lukes-hospice-house

The Shoreline Historical Museum: https://shorelinehistoricalmuseum.org/donate/

Classical KING FM: https://classicalking.org/support