Obituary of Linda Jean Walje

Linda was born on April 2, 1948 in Seattle, WA and passed away after a sudden illness on February 18, 2011. She was preceded in death by her mother Helen Keller. She is survived by her husband Cliff Walje of Tacoma; children Amy, Bill, and Jenn; and grandsons Cordell, Josh, and Ollis. She also leaves behind dear friends Donna and Jim and many friends from 72nd and Pacific Fred Meyer where she worked for over 30 years before retiring. Linda moved to Tacoma when she was a small child and spent the rest of her life living in South Tacoma. She attended Park Avenue Elementary School, Baker Junior High, and graduated from Mt Tahoma High School in 1966. After graduating from high school, she began a career in retail that would lead her to 72nd and Pacific Fred Meyer’s in 1973. She had many fond memories of her years at Fred Meyer, from her adventures as a desk girl in hardware, to the later years in grocery as the bread lady. She had endless stories to tell about her customers and co-workers. Linda was introduced to Cliff in 1980 by one of her co-workers who just happened to be his roommate and best friend. For their first date he took her and her kids to see a Disney movie. She must have known that he was her prince charming because that date began a journey of 30 wonderful years together. They were married on September 16, 1981 in Reno, Nevada. Over the next 3 decades they created countless memories together. From vacations with family and friends, to quiet getaways to the beach, she loved taking trips. Some of her favorites were the vacation to Hawaii where they renewed their wedding vows on the beach, her trip to Las Vegas to see her very first live NASCAR race with Cliff and her daughter Amy, and the summer trip she spent traveling with Cliff and friends Donna, Jim, and Dave. Anyone that knew Linda knew how much she loved making jewelry. She got a special joy out of making a pair of earrings for somebody just to make them smile. She was very proud that she taught herself everything she knew about making jewelry. If you brought her a picture of something you liked, it wouldn’t be long before she would be recreating it for you. It was just who she was, and we will all miss that dearly. Linda was also a devoted mother and grandmother. She sat through countless school plays and concerts, sewed Halloween costumes by hand, and always knew just how to make you feel better. She loved running away to the goodwill with her daughter, and listening to her son’s always interesting stories. Since she retired, she often watched her grandson after school and affectionately referred to herself as the homework warden. He got a lot of his artistic flare from her, and provided her with endless artwork for the fridge as a thank you. Some of the best times of Linda’s life were the simplest things. Like watching the PBR every weekend with her family, or getting up early on Sunday morning to make breakfast before the NASCAR race. She loved to turn her music up loud especially her favorite song, Louie Louie by the Kingsmen. There were also Thursday nights watching The Big Bang Theory and laughing so hard you cried, or Sunday nights watching Army Wives. And we can’t forget all the movies on the Sci-fi channel. She also loved baking her famous chocolate chip cookies, and other goodies. And you could always count on her to make your favorite dinner if you were having a bad day. Linda will be greatly missed by everyone that knew her. She was truly one of a kind.