Linda Marie Hall

Linda was born in Sterling, Colorado on October 11, 1953. The youngest of 5 and daughter of a rancher, she learned the value of self-sufficiency, hard work, and not taking yourself too seriously from an early age. She graduated as the Valedictorian of the Fleming High School class of 1972, and in 1974 earned an associate of arts degree with a minor in music education from Northeastern Junior College. She went on to earn a B.A. in music education from Colorado State University in 1976. In 1994, she married John Lonsdale and became stepmother to his two daughters.

Linda had a distinguished 31-year career teaching vocal music to elementary (Irish Elementary) and middle school (Lincoln Junior High, Webber Middle School) students in the Poudre School District (PSD) until her retirement in 2008. In January 2017, she was inducted into the Colorado Music Educators Association Hall of Fame, capping a long list of professional honors. A believer in lifelong and on-going contribution to the field of music education, she held Level I, II Orff and Level I Kodály certification and served on the Music Instruction Improvement Committee for PSD. She served as Director of the PSD Elementary Honor Choir, the Arkansas Valley Middle School Honor Choir, and the South Dakota Regional Elementary Choir Festival. She was an active member of NAfME, the National Association for Music Education, where she served as state president for the Southwestern Division. She was also a frequent adjudicator for the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) solo and ensemble festivals. She served as a Counselor, Assistant Director, and she was on the Board of Directors for Colorado Columbine Girls State for over 10 years, starting in 1977. Her other awards include PSD Teacher of the Year, Rotary International Teacher of the Year and recipient of a Paul Harris Fellowship.

After her retirement from PSD in 2008, Linda was the music education coordinator at Colorado State University, where she supervised CSU music student-teachers. She also served as accompanist and assistant director with Centennial Children’s Chorus for over 17 years, and she was the piano accompanist for McGraw Elementary and Webber Middle School. In addition to her accolades in the music world, for several years, she owned a catering business, Simply Divine, where her gourmet food and spectacular wedding cakes were in high demand.

Those who knew Linda remember her as a force of nature. She lit up every room she entered with her laugh, her stories, and most of all her humor. She treated those fortunate enough to know her to gourmet meals, homemade truffles, raucous parties, groan-worthy puns, and music. She was a fiercely loyal friend, a surrogate mother to many of her students, and a trivia master. Her loss is felt far and wide by all those with whom she crossed paths.

She is survived by her husband John; stepdaughters Amanda Lonsdale (Colin Johnson) of Washington, DC and Megan Lonsdale of Fort Collins; grandson and light of her life, Alexander Lonsdale Hulen of Fort Collins; sisters Ginny Fortune of Greeley, Katie (Larry) Brittain of Sterling, Patty (Dave) Mills of Platteville, and brother Michael Hall of Loveland, and numerous beloved nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Don and Helen Hall.

A memorial service will be held at 2:30PM on March 9 at the Griffin Concert Hall at 1400 Remington Street in Fort Collins, Colorado. A reception will follow immediately after at the same location.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in to a scholarship in her memory to the Centennial Children’s Chorus, Pathways Hospice of Northern Colorado, or the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation.