Linda was born in Beaumont Texas, September 10 1942, daughter of IO Walker and Hodsen G Hennigan Jr. She lived in Japan and California in her youth, but settled in Guntersville and Huntsville, Alabama for high school. She ended up traveling across much of the world, visiting more than 65 countries. She was warm, fun, energetic, positive, and most of all, adventurous. She entered the workforce at the Huntsville NASA installation as a technical editor. After her daughters completed elementary school, she followed her love of travel to become a Travel Agent. She climbed Ayer’s rock in Australia, ate sushi in Japan, cruised the Nile, and learned how to make fresh pasta after a trip to Italy, all the while planning extraordinary trips all over the world for her family, friends, and clients.
Linda was the consummate host—always gracious, making her guests feel at home, and had a flair for decorating, fueled by interior decorating courses she took at a local community college during her time in Asheboro, NC. She was an expert at making a house feel like a home and she always made time to listen to, and comfort, her friends.
She was an amazing entertainer as well as a cook, and reveled in hosting parties, from fresh Dungeness crabs with bibs, to exquisite multi-course wine-pairings, to fun mystery dinner parties, all of which usually lasted well into the night. She loved food, and story-telling, and was the bon vivant at parties, teaching all of us how to live well.
She shared her life with Reg, her husband of 55 years, moving around the US for his job. Both shared a love of Auburn University football, wine-tasting, and travel.
Most of all, Linda was a loving and doting mother and grandmother. Whether taking her daughters and granddaughters out to high tea, or planning the annual family reunion at Holden Beach, NC, she knew how to make family moments special. She delighted in buying thoughtful little gifts for her granddaughters when they visited or inviting them over one by one for sleepovers to guarantee special time with all of them. She was a cheerleader for all of her family—just as she was cheerleader in High School—celebrating their adventures and successes, however small.
She leaves behind her beloved husband Reginald Kemp, two daughters who adored her, two sons-in-law that she adored, and four granddaughters who she cherished: her eldest daughter April, husband Tim Hanson, and daughter Hope Kemp Hanson, and younger daughter Amber Kemp, husband Kenneth Kresse, and daughters, Evelyn, Clara, and Lilah Grace Kresse.
A private service will be held, officiated by family friend Bill Robinson, with a celebration of life to be held at a later date. The family requests donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in lieu of flowers.
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