Lin Saunders died January 28, 2024 from cancer. She was born March 26, 1952 to Donald and Yvonne Saunders in Tucson, Az., the oldest of three children. She spent her childhood on a series of military bases in the USA and abroad. Lin remembered with particular fondness her family’s time in Spain where she learned to speak Spanish. Over the years she had a diverse range of occupations including nun, teacher, and working in the aerospace industry and the automotive industry. Her last job before retirement was working at Northern Arizona University as a distance education student advisor. While working, Lin continued her education receiving a Master’s degree in Organizational Development. In 1983 Lin met her lifetime partner Jeannine Barnes and they married in 2014. They lived in California, Washington and southern Arizona before settling in Flagstaff in 2008. They shared many adventures together including travelling all over the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Lin was a talented writer whose stories of life in the convent and in the Southwest would have been wonderful to see in print. She had a delightfully wicked sense of humor, a gift for spot-on description, and an avid curiosity about the world that she communicated in her writing. As her writing teacher Mary Sojourner, stated, “She brought laughter…And, without her writing about them directly, her courage and genuine compassion always shone through.”
Lin loved all critters but especially small, fierce dogs who thought they were ten times larger than their shadow. She will be remembered by all who met her for her broad smile, happy laugh, and love of fruit, chocolate, wine and spicy food.
Lin was predeceased by her mother and father, her brother Thane, and her sister Juliet. She is survived by her wife, Jeannine, her beloved dog Declan, and dear friends who will miss her greatly. She leaves a Lin-sized hole in the world.