Edward Linder Jr.'s Obituary
Edward (Ed) Linder, Jr passed away Sunday, July 31, 2022 at the age of 91 after a lengthy battle with heart and lung disease. He is survived by his wife of nearly 65 years, Sandra Linder (Eminger) and their sons Dale (Kathy) of Maple Valley, WA, Jeffrey (Lucretia) of Auburn, WA, David (Colleen) of Auburn, WA, and Mark (Nalani) of Tacoma, WA, along with nine grand-children and seven great-grandchildren.
Ed was born on October 11, 1930, in Cleveland, Ohio to Edward Sr and Eva (Butler) Linder. He grew up in Cleveland and became an aviation enthusiast at a young age. Immediately after high school he enlisted in the US Air Force. After his enlistment, he rode his Indian motorcycle from Ohio to California to attend college. He completed 3+ years and left early as he was accepted to the US Air Force Aviation Cadets program. During this time, he was also dating Sandra Eminger, whom he married in Oct 1957. Edward became a US Air Force pilot, served in Southeast Asia for 1.5 years during the Vietnam War. He, Sandra and boys moved several times during his career before his retirement after 26 years as a Lt Colonel. During his Air Force career, he travelled extensively, visiting all the world continents except Antarctica. His final duty station was with the 89th Special Airlift Mission squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland where he flew during the Nixon / Ford administrations. He had the great pleasure to fly George H. W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon’s dogs (on their final flight to San Clemente) and too many other cabinet members and dignitaries to mention during his seven years at Andrews.
After retiring from the Air Force, Ed, Sandra and the boys moved back to the Pacific Northwest (PNW) in 1978 (as they were previously stationed at McChord AFB and loved the PNW), where Ed joined the Xerox team, working there for 10 years and then retiring for good. He and Sandra then purchased the first of two sailboats and traveled extensively throughout the Puget Sound region, the San Juan islands, and took several sailboat trips to Alaska via the inside passage through Canadian waters. He was also a volunteer at the Veterans Administration for many years. Golf was also a central theme in the Linder household and many family vacations centered around golf squarely in the mix of activities. When not sailing or doing volunteer work, he and Sandra took off in their RV for extended travels around the United States and Canada, planning many of their travels around golf course locations, and visiting with family friends sprinkled across the US. It was not uncommon for them to be gone for 2–3-month stints with the boys not knowing exactly where they were. Ed always stayed busy with projects around the house, as he was a big do-it-yourself kind of guy before it became vogue (can you say ‘duct tape’?). He and Sandra loved having a tight knit family and group of steadfast friends. Ed would routinely tell everyone that he felt like the luckiest guy in the world to have a loving, supportive wife and four good, hard-working sons with wonderful spouses.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to a charity of your choice. A memorial service is planned for Monday, August 29th at 2:00 PM, at the Mountain View Funeral Home, Aspen Chapel in Tacoma, WA
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