Linda Carol Hawthorne

Linda Carol Hawthorne, age 68 years, 10 months and 19 days, passed away Saturday, October 12, 2024  at the Steelville Senior Living. She was born November 23, 1955 in St. Louis to Cecil and Emma Jean Wright Hawthorne. Linda grew up in different towns in Missouri due to her father’s relocations due to his job.  When Linda was in high school, her parents moved to Steelville, where she graduated from high school and made Steelville her forever home. 

Linda was a longtime member of the Steelville Presbyterian Church where she served on the church board a number of times and loved caring for the little ones in the nursery. Additionally, she worked at the Steelville Star helping to ensure the inserts were in the newspapers.  She also enjoyed babysitting for her friend’s children, being a Boy Scout leader, and later working with the Girl Scouts as well. Although Linda never had any biological children, she was very much a mother and mentor to countless children in and around her beloved community.

Linda’s many hobbies consisted of using her talents working with her hands.  No matter how bad her arthritis was, she enjoyed knitting, crocheting, sewing anything even without patterns, pencil drawings, working with leather making belts and wallets, and reading books.  Her famous ant colony drawings were among her family’s favorites and during her time living at Steelville Senior Living, she drew portraits of staff and residents. 

Despite Linda’s disabilities and the constant pain she was in, she was always faithful to God, cheerful, inspiring, fun loving, kind, caring, willing to help anyone in any way, and had a contagious laugh that encouraged everyone she came in contact with to have a good day.  

She was preceded in death by her parents, Cecil Earl and Emma “Jean” Hawthorne; sister, Donna Rae Hawthorne; and brother-in-law, Randy Asher.

She will be sadly missed by her two sisters, Amy Asher of Steelville, MO and Audrey (Earnie) Simpson of Marysville, WA; nieces and nephews; great nieces and nephews; other relatives; and many friends.

The Family received friends from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, October 18, 2024 at the Britton-Bennett Funeral Home in Steelville, MO.

Services were Live streamed on the Britton-Bennett Funeral Home on Facebook.

Funeral services were held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 19, 2024 with Rev. Wendy Downing officiating. Special music of "It Only Takes a Spark", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Theme from Star Wars" was played.

Honored to be casket bearers were Jacob Asher, Justus Conaway, Earnie Simpson, Chad Dement, Mike Turnbough, Joshua Asher, Jasper Conaway and Chris Staples.

Committal prayer and interment were in the Steelville Cemetery, Steelville, MO.

In lieu of flowers, Memorials may be given in Linda's name to the Epilepsy Foundation, 222 S. Meramec Ave., Clayton, MO  63105

The Hawthorne Family was served by the Britton-Bennett Funeral Home in Steelville, MO.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Linda Carol Hawthorne, please visit our floral store.