Dr. Linda P. Wexler

Linda Perlman Wexler lived an extraordinary life. A compassionate doctor, mother, wife, and grandmother, she traveled to six of the seven continents, found deep meaning in her relationships and reveled in the beauty of the natural world. Born in Roselle, New Jersey, Linda lived most of her life in the Tampa Bay area, and– more recently– in her beloved home on the water in Olympia, Washington. She died at home after a short illness.

Linda lived fully, and overcame many challenges with determination and a rare exuberance of spirit. The only child in her school with glasses, she learned to fight early, and to “take a punch with your mouth closed”. Even with her visual challenge, she was a slugger in baseball, playing sports on the boys teams. At age six, after begging for a sibling, she took a primary role in raising her younger sister Jill, whom she loved deeply.

The first in her family to go to college, she excelled at academics, graduating with honors from Douglass College and earning a National Science Foundation fellowship to get her Master’s degree in Science Education from New York University. Linda married Mel Wexler in 1966 and soon after found her life’s calling in Medicine. She completed her studies at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania while raising two young daughters, Perri and Lisa, and endured a grueling residency in Internal Medicine while pregnant with her son, Matthew.

Linda jumped into all aspects of life with both feet. She forged deep and lasting friendships, traveled to far flung places, and threw herself into new activities with determination and drive, winning Isshinryu karate competitions, scuba diving all over the world with Mel, and– later– with a raucous local dive club. She even took on zumba dancing with gusto while in her 60’s.

Unexpectedly widowed at age 54, Linda was devastated. But with her characteristic strength and determination, she rebuilt her shattered life step by step. She forged ahead and as she did so, she joined Women in Thanatology (WIT), an organization devoted to the study of death and grieving, in order to help others who’d also suffered devastating loss. She never stopped striving and growing.

Linda was a meticulous and compassionate doctor, serving generations of families who felt eminently well cared for. Her patients would often stop her in the mall or on the street to sing her praises. When she retired from her practice after more than 30 years, she held a “Transition and Thank You Party” for 250 of her patients– with more unable to attend because of space constraints! Many of these patients spoke of how their lives were saved by Dr. Wexler. After retirement, she worked as a primary care doctor in the VA, serving veterans with the same compassionate and thorough approach.

She found a soul mate in Colby Munger. The two were inseparable until his death in July 2024. With Colby, she explored the world, including Antarctica, engaged in off-roading in their gecko green jeep, enjoyed RV adventures, voyaged the eastern seaboard in Colby’s custom trawler, led meditation retreats in their Tarpon Springs home, and took up the dulcimer and voice lessons. The two were deeply connected, devoted spiritual counterparts. Her time with Colby was the happiest in her life.

Linda developed her sense of spirituality from a young age. As a young girl, she had the revelation that “God is Love”. And throughout her 84 years, she sought to live in that love– in her relationships with family, friends and patients, in the joy she took in the natural world, and in her explorations of mysticism and religion. She learned to meditate, and became the good friend and doctor of Sufi leader, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, traveling with him to Nepal and India and attending the Conference of World Religions. She was a deeply spiritual person, an ordained minister in Universal Worship, a founding member of Congregation Ahavat Shalom, and member of Or Ahava Jewish Renewal Community.

Linda never lost her sense of joy and wonder. She marveled daily at the view of Mount Rainier from her house in Olympia, and at the beautiful live oaks near her home in Clearwater. She took joy in every single sunset, every bird at her feeder, and every visit to Strachan’s for ice cream. She loved being on the water– and under it too, encouraging her loved ones to learn to kayak, scuba dive and explore the world’s oceans with her.

Linda had an abiding belief in love and its power. She found great love in her life, and was a loving– if exacting– mother, challenging her children and later, her grandchildren, to live fully and to follow their passions whatever they may be. She built deep, meaningful friendships everywhere she went. Linda lived fully and with love and died without regrets. Hers was indeed a life well lived.

A graveside service will be held at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park, located at 2860 Sunset Point Rd, Clearwater, FL 33759, on December 21, 2025 at 1:00pm. **Please RSVP in the "Add a Memory" section below, with the number of guests in your party, by December 16th. Thank you~

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Nature Conservancy or World Wildlife Fund. (scroll for provided links)