Linda S. Wickham

Linda Sue Wickham of Ames, Iowa passed away Friday, August 30th, at the age of 74. Linda was living in an amazing new apartment where she enjoyed watching traffic with her cat, spending hours in her craft room, online shopping and keeping up to date on state and federal educational related politics.

Linda was born to Lela and W.W. Wickham of Ames, Iowa and enjoyed a childhood of baking with her mom, taking drives in the VW Beetle, checking on construction projects with her engineer Dad and participating in a variety of choir related clubs and activities. Linda pursued teaching at Iowa State University, graduated and was an educator for over 40 years. Linda was a tutor, taught at Upper Iowa, and volunteered in the classroom. However, the majority of her time as an educator was spent teaching in the Saydel Community Schools. Education was her passion, and Linda was known by her students for being "real" and "lots of fun," and of course having a singing stuffed animal for every occasion.

Linda seemed to love holidays and each season you would find her sporting very intricate and fun nail designs. Always the educator, she kept busy curating educational boxes full of holiday themed games and books for her adopted grandchildren who fondly referred to her as Grandma WeeWee.

Linda kept her only daughter, Whitney, busy helping her in the classroom, completing various projects and comparing notes on education, politics and generally how to live life. Whitney has fond memories of gardening and landscaping with her Mom, helping set-up her classroom each year and her Mom teaching her how to drive a stick shift car. Linda and Whitney shared time riding and taking care of horses when she was a child and always kept a variety of pets. Whitney was always the recipient of great advice, educational wisdom and the occasional box full of extras from Linda's favorite subscription boxes. Whitney recalls her mom being fun and kind growing up, with only the occasional need to bring out the "teacher voice."

Linda had a group of friends that she loved catching up with over dinner, on the phone, or via social media. Linda was also comfortable just having "me" time with her cat and a few TV subscriptions. She was an incredibly hard worker and spent most of her life working multiple jobs. From 2016 (official retirement) until 2021 she worked part-time at Upper Iowa and volunteered as a classroom aid. Her true retirement started in 2021 when she began enjoying a slower pace of life. Linda was a woman full of personality, fun, anecdotes and a fierce independent nature. She will be deeply missed, but always celebrated, by her family and friends.

Linda is survived by her daughter Whitney Wickham and daughter-in-law Melanie Granger along with many informal family members, and many friends. Linda was proceeded in death by her mother, Lela (Starr) Wickham, father, W.W. Wickham, and infant brother, William Starr Wickham.

Linda will be celebrated on October 6th, at 3pm at the Lakeside Center (400 NW Lakeshore Drive) in Ankeny, Iowa. She will be laid to rest in the Creston Cemetery near her parents. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to the Saydel Eagle Endowment Fund. This is a non-profit organization that awards college scholarships to graduating seniors. Our hope is some of her students will benefit from these gifts and nothing would make her happier. You can donate by contacting Cody Nelson at 515-210-4162 or the Saydel District office at 515-264-0866.

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