Linda Spooner

Linda Marie Spooner, beloved mom, nana, sister and friend passed away after a brief illness on February 23rd, 2017 at the age of 67. Linda was born in Waukegan, Illinois on June 30th, 1949. She was the third of eight children and spent her childhood in Fox Lake, Illinois. On a cross-country road trip to California in 1974, Linda and her young daughter Stacey, stopped in Carlsbad, NM to visit her in-laws, and since Carlsbad holds all the same appeal as California, she ended up staying there permanently. Linda retired from the New Mexico Department of Labor 3 years ago after 30 years of dedicated service. In her work with NMDL she made many friends and influenced many people. Linda wore 3 inch heels nearly every working day of her life and had the legs to prove it. She worked harder than anyone we've ever known, often cleaning offices as a side job in the evenings and weekends while her daughters played under the desks. Linda loved 50's and 60's music and could do the Twist like nobody's business. She loved Jesus and the Chicago Cubs, and once the Cubs won the World Series she must have figured her work here was done. Of all the things she loved in this world, Linda loved being a nana most of all. She was a modern nana, often texting or using Facetime to connect with her grandkids. Nothing brought her more joy than spending time with them and she would happily spend hours playing trains with her Dylan. Linda was preceded in death by her parents, Milton and Lorena Spooner, brother Dick Spooner, sister Robin Melby and her father-in-law and mother-in-law, whom she loved like parents, Frank and Ardith Nyrkkanen. Linda is survived by her daughter Stacey (Clay) Lancaster and children, Kyle, Cassidy and Scarlett and daughter Niki (James) Orona and son Dylan, brothers Jerome Spooner, Patrick Spooner, Ted Spooner and sister Laurie Spooner, in-laws Frank Nyrkkanen, Mike Nyrkkanen, Scott Nyrkkanen and Nancy Hartman, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Linda had many, many friends that blessed her life and whom she loved dearly. A very special thanks to JJ Foster for being her partner in crime for the past several years, and to Cindy Hester who never let her go to a doctor's appointment alone and, along with her husband and daughter, Jeff and Karrah, took her into their home and loved her like family during the last month of her life. Linda left us far too soon and we will miss her every day for the rest of our lives, but we know that she will be waiting to greet us when we are able to join her in Heaven and that gives us great joy. We love you to the moon and back... In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Spooner Girls Foundation, www.spoonergirls.com, supporting research of NUBPL Complex I Deficiency. Cremation has taken place and a memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, March 4, 2017, 10:30 AM, at Denton-Wood Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Ramon Florez officiating. Denton-Wood Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Condolences may be expressed at dentonwood.com