Linda Jean Wise, age 86 of Gloucester County passed away at her home on
July 27, 2024. Linda was born November 15, 1937, in Des Moines, Iowa to the
late Alene and Raymond Thompson. After her parents divorced, she spent
much of her childhood on an Iowa farm with her grandparents. Linda later
moved to Miami, Florida to live with her father and stepmother Martelle
Thompson, stepbrother James Shiver and stepsister Mary (LaWanna) Harpel.
She married her first husband and had a daughter, Cynthia Jean Richardson
(Watkins) in 1958. She remarried Martice Edgar Wise in 1961, a sailor in the US
Navy and later a civilian contractor to the USAF. They relocated several times
over the years and had a son, Martice Edgar Wise, Jr. in 1962 in Key West,
Florida and her second daughter, Sandra Joell Wise in 1966 in Brunswick,
Georgia. They moved to San Pedro, California, Rolling Hills Estates California,
Anchorage Alaska, Nome Alaska, San Antonio Texas, Bulverde Texas, and
Merritt Island Florida. Linda and Martice divorced around 1981 and she moved
to Melbourne Florida, then Washington, DC in pursuit of her own career as an
administrative assistant to senior executives of Harris Corporation from which
she retired in 2003. Upon retiring she relocated to Gloucester County, Virginia
where she remained until her passing. In her travels, Linda had many
adventures and saw much of the country and met people from all over the
world. She loved people and animals and enjoyed a peaceful retirement in her
home in Gloucester where she spent much of her spare time sitting on her
porch, watching the birds and animals and marveling at the sheer
amazingness of the world around her. Linda was an avid seamstress and lover
of books and magazines and never met a pie or cake or sweet treat she didn't
like. She had a silly sense of humor and penchant for writing short stories and
jokes and drawing comics that reflected her observations about the world. But
it was her endless optimism and gratitude that was the centerpiece of her
worldview. This was best characterized by a saying she saw on a plaque many
years ago and that she repeated frequently -- "There is always, always,
always, something to be thankful for."
Linda is survived by her sister, LaWanna (Mary) Harpel, her children (Cindy
and her husband John, Marty and his wife Sandra Faye, and Sandy Joell), 5
grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren who will forever hold her close in
their hearts and miss her very much.