Linda Jeanne Peterson Powell     -    May 5, 1944 – July 16, 2020

Linda Jeanne Peterson Powell, age 76, passed away on Thursday July 16, 2020 due to kidney failure complications from COVID-19 at the Avalon Valley Rehabilitation Center in Salt Lake City Utah. In her last days, she was comforted through song, prayers, and tender words of love.

Linda Jeanne was born in Highland Falls, West Point NY to Irene and Niels Marcus Peterson. She spent most of her childhood in Salt Lake City UT and in Fort Worth TX and graduated from Olympus High School in SLC in 1962. Linda’s first job was in Yellowstone National Park at age 18. The Peterson family moved to Fullerton CA in 1963 when Niels Marcus started work on the Apollo project. During this time in California, Linda attended Fullerton Junior College and met David Lee Powell; they married in the Los Angeles Temple in July of 1969. Between 1966 – 1968, Linda went by “Sister Peterson” when serving as a full-time missionary in Bordeaux France for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

 Linda dedicated her life to serving her family, friends, and neighbors, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and developing and sharing her artistic talents. In short, her near-singular purpose was “Love”. Heartrendingly, Linda weathered storms of mental illness that she withstood to the best of her abilities. Linda held strong to the helm and hope of eternal salvation - Jesus Christ. This hope carried her through four decades of a limited living space and a largely solitary life. She did not wish for pity; she maintained optimism and gratitude through most of her days. She wrote many letters to Welfare Services for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, advocating for better mental and emotional health treatments and improved vocation skills. She was able to see much improvement in these areas locally and nationally, even improvements which benefited her own posterity.  

 Linda’s greatest pride was her four children, sixteen grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Linda’s mental health condition prevented her from rearing her children and made it quite difficult to connect with family and friends in-person. Thankfully, she was able to bridge communication gaps with innumerable letters, phone calls, and home-spun treasures that she created with love and shared abundantly. She loved to crochet blankets and hats, make felt animals, and sketch. She was blessed by a handful of faithful friends and family members who always remembered her and called on her as oft as they were able.    

 Linda is survived by her 4 children and their spouses: Kristin Michele and Ramon Morales of Fort Worth TX, Erika Powell-Burson and Jefferson Burson of Harvard MA, Dorothy Elizabeth and Marc Adams of Temecula CA, Russell Ammon and Morgan Powell of Salt Lake City UT, Linda’s 16 grandchildren (Kristin’s children: Jonathon, Ramon, Erika, Evangelina and Rose; Erika’s children: Tristan, Zoë, Xander, Quinn and Evey; Dorothy’s children:

Nathan, Jacob, Gabriel and Amber; Russell’s children: Allison and Samuel) and 6 great-grandchildren (Kristin’s grandchildren: Kyra, Mason, Gwynevere, Parker, Levi and Ty), Linda’s 3 brothers and their wives: R. Miguel and Joyce Peterson of St. George UT, David A. and Jenny Peterson of Visalia CA, Mark B. and Jane Peterson of Loomis CA, and her sister Marcia L. Harward of Salt Lake City UT, and the many children and grandchildren of her siblings. Linda was preceded in death by her beloved parents Niels Marcus and Irene Peterson and by her dear sister Karen Irene Moyle, and also brothers-in-law Richard Wright Moyle and Gary Neal Harward.  

 Considering the Covid-19 world pandemic, the children of Linda Jeanne Peterson Powell will host an online memorial in August 2020. An in-person memorial and interment of Linda’s ashes will tentatively be held on May 5th 2021 – Linda’s birthday. If you would like to attend the online or in-person memorial, read a longer tribute to Linda Powell’s life, and/or view family photos, please email erikapowellburson@gmail.com  We welcome and will cherish any memories, stories and/or photos of Linda that you’d like to share. 

 If you would like to make a contribution on Linda’s behalf, consider service or strengthening your own self-reliance via topics listed on the Provident Living website https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/ or make a donation to the Church’s Humanitarian Aid Fund: https://philanthropies.churchofjesuschrist.org/humanitarian-services/funds