Linda E. Lloyd was born on November 11, 1950 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and died on April 23, 2021 in Austin, Texas after a long illness. A world traveler, full of passion, quick to laugh, committed to purpose, and respectful of all, Linda knew how to live life with gusto. She was known for her infectious laugh, her outstanding teaching, her mentoring, her playfulness, and for blowing bubbles.
Linda was a gifted teacher, beloved mentor, and prolific public health leader whose career spanned nearly forty years in state government, consulting and higher education. Her work began in 1981 at the Texas Department of Health (TDH) where she spent 13 years as a planner/statistician in the Bureau of State Health Planning, as Director of TDH’s Injury Control Program and as Director of the statewide Texas Cancer Registry. She was someone who made a difference.
Following her work at TDH, she spent three years as President of the Lloyd Group, an Austin-based consulting firm that focused on health and human services planning and evaluation.
Linda’s passion for community health and her deep roots in public health practice were an excellent foundation from which to transition in 1997 to higher education, the sphere in which she worked until her retirement in 2017. During those 20 years, she served in a variety of academic leadership roles at Drexel University (1997 - 2005) and at The University of Texas (2005 - 2017)
As Associate Dean for Education and Director of the Center for Community Health Prevention at MCP Hahnemann School of Public Health, now the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University, Linda provided steady, pragmatic leadership during a time of great change. She was awarded the university’s Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.
In 2005, she returned to Texas as Associate Dean for Public Health Practice at The University of Texas (UT) School of Public Health where she also served as Associate Professor of Management, Policy and Community Health. In that role, she mentored many students and faculty and oversaw academic programs and practice-based education across UT’s six campuses in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Austin, Dallas, Brownsville. She created the school’s Public Health Certificate program, a competency-based training program for agencies, staff and community partners, and she developed dual-degree programs between public health and other disciplines.
Linda believed in the strength of collaboration. She led the Texas Public Health Training Center, a statewide partnership to provide training to the public health workforce and was also a leader in the Training and Education Collaborative System Preparedness and Emergency Learning Center.
If you showed up in Linda’s office doorway, she would look up with delight. No matter how busy she was, she would stop what she was doing to invite you in for a cup of tea and a chat. Her office was filled with files, books, and most especially, toys. There were marionettes hanging from the ceiling, unusual erasers and balls strewn about, and a whiteboard where she collected phrases of inspiration and exasperation.
She always kept bubble jars on the table near her desk. She encouraged students, fellow faculty and staff to celebrate their small wins and triumphs by blowing bubbles. In her memory, colleagues at UT have set up a small bubble-blowing station on the 9th floor to keep up the tradition.
In her last three years back in Austin, living at The Overture, Linda enjoyed retirement and frequent Mah Jong games, her knitting group, book group, and the Breakfast Club, a daily morning gathering around the community table with new friends (before COVID) – all filled with great laughter and storytelling.
Linda loved traveling all over the world, experiencing cultures, places, arts, music, literature, food, and people. She loved cycling and did so in many places across the globe (including Travis County’s annual Tour de Cele that always concluded with great barbecue at the Cele Store). She loved photography, reading (especially mystery novels) and good stories of all kinds. She loved hearing stories about her friends’ children and grandchildren, and she’d talk with practically anyone she met to discover their stories.
Linda earned her PhD at the University of Texas in 1989, her MBA from Radford University in 1980, her MSW from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1976 and her BA in Honors Psychology from University of Waterloo in 1974.
Linda was a devoted daughter and daughter-in-law, sister and sister-in-law, cousin, friend, colleague and teacher. She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Stephen and Iris Daly, her brother, John Daly, her former husband and beloved friend of 51 years, Doug Lloyd, her cousins, Marie Mandeville and Barbara Wilkinson, and many dear friends, colleagues and former students. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rita and Denis Daly, her in-laws, Mary and Eric Lloyd, and her beloved cocker spaniel, Magoo.
Linda’s family and friends extend the deepest gratitude and heartfelt thanks to Doug Lloyd, Ann Henry, Linda and Michael Krause and Emma Campos. Their continual attention, care and support allowed Linda to live independently until her death.
Linda cared deeply about her students and their welfare, often helping them purchase books and other school supplies when they were financially stressed. Contributions in Linda’s memory may be made (by check only) to the “Linda Lloyd Student Assistance Fund” at The University of Texas School of Public Health.
Please make checks payable to The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and mail to:
UT School of Public Health
1200 Pressler Dr. RAS E-935
Houston, TX 77030
ATTN: Maria Saenz
REMEMBERING LINDA LLOYD
THE GAL WITH LAUGHING BUBBLES
(A group poem created in memory of Linda Lloyd by 35 of her friends, family,
colleagues and students - all listed below)
Linda, you were the gal with laughing bubbles.
The greatest sister that any brother could hope for.
A smart, creative leader, full of caring for all...
You enhanced the world and dared to break down each hurtful wall.
I can imagine heaven having an amazing library. And your delight in discovering the latest adventures of Rebus, Banks, Gamache, and Vera.
Tucked away in cherished drawers, are your words of brilliance and compassion, all inked in purple pen.
Your passion for travel was exquisite, as was your love for bread pudding!
Your star rose fast and now shines brightly over all of us.
You traveled the world — you went where your heart called you. You lived according to your own compass & no anyone else’s. You lived & loved & laughed & danced like no one was watching!
You had an endearing, youthful exuberance and genuine interest in Art that endured many decades.
You loved the phrase “High Fidelity!” It reflected your like and desire of really nice (and expensive) things.
“You can do better,” you said – me, chagrined in the moment, but incalculably changed by your wise words you, my posh gal pal.
You made things happen!
Your life touched the lives of others; your laughter filled every room
You were an important part of pioneering efforts to advance modern public health science and practices in Texas.
We remember you, our fearless Practice Council leader! Your spirit of public health practice, stakeholder inclusivity, social justice, and ‘Tell it like it is’ ethos will continued to be told!
You had a joy for life and an eclectic collection of memorabilia, like the “I Love Lucy” mint tin you willed me when you left here and another colleague an “I Love Lucy” lunch box.
You said to me … “Hmmm...so you got fired from your position for being too nice? Ha! A woman after my own heart. Kindness...let’s blow bubbles to that.”
Your efforts touched past, present, and generations to come. Your legacy lives on in nameless faces.
You made the room, any room, lighter, smarter, and so very often, happier.
We shared a hotel room in 1985 at TPHA; I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard since.
You always knew how to solve problems and did so time and again.
Flying under the radar was not your style, your contributions were meaningful and visible.”
You worked and played hard.
We remember:
Big Bus tours in Philly
Chinatown treasure hunts
Green sofa talks
Bubbles and laughter floating through the airways and the hallways
You made it fun to work and to learn.
You offered a warm welcome to all.
There are those who wonder what happened, those who watch things happen, and those who make things happen. You made things happen. You were a joy to know and work alongside!
We could always count on you for your astute leadership, wise counsel and your abounding laughter.
You always made me smile and forget the troubles of the day with your laughter.
You believed in me before anyone else did – you were part of the village that kept me going when I thought I couldn't go any further.
You had a big heart. You were generous and kind.
You loved long walks, art, and music so much; and strangely, Monday night football.
You were complicated, courageous, a champion of those needing representation.... and a traveler reveling in the world.
We miss your smiles and ability to switch so rapidly between character voices when you read aloud to our children.
You were a caring and open soul.
Happiness for you these last few years was playing Mah Jong with your friends at the Overture, knitting scarves long enough to be from “here to San Antonio.” Dice with the gang on Friday afternoons that was laugh therapy for us all, Canasta on Mondays, celebrating Mardi Gras with masks and beads eating king cake, and of course, laughing. That is how I’ll choose to remember you, smiling and enjoying life.
You had a magnetism that invited everyone in—even the shy and reticent.
Your laugh was infectious, and while you took everything -- especially public health—very seriously, you never took herself, or allowed others to take themselves too seriously.
You always had great advice for me as a younger woman faculty.
You saw my potential and believed in me! A mixture of creativity and irreverence you recognized!
You taught me that you never have to “pay back” a mentor; only pay it forward. When you are in a position to guide or to help someone, do it!
Having known you, my "cousin Linda" since before you were hatched .. I remember your lightheartedness and your anguish, your love of a good story, your brilliance and your bubbles … lots of bubbles...
I see you sitting by the sea, on the shore near the cottage, savoring a cup of tea or perhaps a glass of bubbly.
You have gone away for a dream and a day when sun glints on the sea like diamonds for free.
“Here, blow some bubbles.”
The Gal with the Laughing Bubbles – In Memory of Linda Lloyd, co-authors listed below
Steven Daly
Iris Sommers Daly
Sharon Cooper
Diane Benckert
Andrew Springer
Tom Betz
Nathalie Bartle
Sharon Cummings
Jamie Feeney
Ray Lum
Lucina Suarez
Lydia Contreras
Nell Gottlieb
Nancy Weiss
Jen Breaux
Dennis Gallagher
Jennifer Ballow
Michelle Teti
Mary O’Brien
Monica Sianez
Debbie Martin
Barbara Wilkinson
Marie Mandeville
Jim Dickson
Carol Galeener
Joseph Peralta
Augusta (Toti) Villanueva
Dennis Gallagher
Larissa White
Angie Cummings
Sabine Eustache
Marlisa Stewart Hardy
Linda Krause
Mariana Chilton
Nancy Epstein
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