Linda Jean Schoner Larrieu Condit

Born February 17, 1945 in Trenton, NJ at Orange County Hospital to Jean Lucille Weber Schoner and Warren Hayes Schoner, during the final year of World War II. When the war ended, her father had to find a new career after losing everything he invested in his construction business, Schoner Estates, in Buffalo, NY. He was offered Atlanta, GA or New Orleans, LA for relocation, and two years later he sent for his growing family to move down into the Deep South of the Greater New Orleans Area. They started in Old Metairie and eventually moved to the house Linda's father built in Old Jefferson.

Before school and educational learning, Linda was raised and taught about her lifelong faith at Metairie Ridge Presbyterian Church in Old Metairie, not far from her first home that her family moved into upon arriving on her first train ride across the country. Knowing high school is important to New Orleans culture, she was proud of her education at East Jefferson High School, where she was president of her sorority, Pi Epsilon Pi. After graduating high school, she attended LSU in Baton Rouge, LA, where she met her ex-husband, Lloyd Patrick Larrieu, at the student union on campus.

Linda never remarried and never spoke negatively about her ex-husband. She only spoke of kind memories, his loving, brilliant siblings, and the many things he taught her over the years, taking care to ensure that she passed on the best of him to her girls.

Her youngest daughter, Susan, finally met her Larrieu family when she attended the funeral services of her much loved uncle, Duane Larrieu, in 2015. The family welcomed Susan with loving, open arms and she has remained in contact with them ever since.

In Linda's early years, she was adventurous and very active. Hiking, climbing, cycling, playing softball and volleyball, horseback riding, and canoeing were her activities of choice. She was awarded first place for being a sharpshooter and bullseye archer, as well. She also loved camping, boating, fishing, swimming, indoor and outdoor gardening, rescuing endless cats, and refurbishing furniture. She would end every day by reading countless novels, especially Western novels, reading her Bible like a history book in full, or perusing countless cookbooks from around the world.

As an avid reader, she never stopped learning history (which she loved), geology, astronomy, marine biology, new technology, and more, which made her an excellent partner for Sunday trivia. She memorized innumerable poems, sonnets, limericks, songs, and plenty of humorous witticisms. She was always ready to share her warm-hearted, good, clean jokes with anyone and everyone, and laughter was her absolute favorite medicine.

Although she didn't travel the world, she traveled everywhere in her mind by reading and watching about other cultures and countries; she would become the characters in her books and explore anywhere she wanted to go. Outside of reading, she did get to enjoy traveling across America, from New Mexico to Maine and most states in between. Sometimes she would even join her daughters on their vacations and double the adventures for both.

As an avid home chef, she adored anything and everything pertaining to cooking and cuisine, from fine dining to backyard BBQ, and nothing kept her from her Saturday morning cooking shows. Linda's spice cabinet was not pre-blended with chemicals or preservatives. She opted for single spices and would blend them freshly herself. She also never missed an opportunity to try something new at the grocery store or a restaurant.

Linda's preference was her own home cooked, delicious meals with much less salt than pre-packaged or prepared meals. Her oven and saute pan brought the art of excellence to her culinary delights and taught her daughters to keep trying new experiences at home and in life.

She had one constant reminder for her daughters, "Always find a way to stay alive and come home; even if you made a mistake, you can be forgiven. Call me and I will come get you, regardless of where you are. Stay alive. I love you." Linda kept true to her promise to her daughters, even as they grew into their teen years and early twenties; she was loving, forgiving, encouraging, kind hearted, compassionate, and filled with mercy and grace. Our beloved mother, grandma, great-grandma, aunt, sister, and daughter; Linda was truly a child of God. She lived as if Jesus was here on Earth, walking beside her.

Linda's daughters have the best childhood memories because of her interest in the state of Louisiana. They would learn about plantations, go to Audubon Zoo, Audubon Park, and City Park, and take long drives to Baton Rouge, the Northshore, and Grand Isle. They would vacation every summer in Grand Isle, just as Linda did growing up. All those bathtub swimming lessons were brought to completion every summer in the Gulf of Mexico, where Linda taught her daughters about riptides year after year. This was also where Linda taught her daughters to catch dozens and dozens of endless crabs.

After her divorce, Linda delved into her family history, learning as much as she could and digging into old archives. Eventually her mother joined in on her fun and they became lifelong members of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Linda was very proud of her ancestors, especially Captain Jonathan Condit of New Jersey in the American Revolutionary War.

Linda also supported the Sierra Club in efforts to protect and save both land and oceans. She proudly supported St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for decades as well, and her family asks that you do too.

In her later years, Linda enjoyed watching TV, but her family also fondly remembers her adoration for theater, opera, ballet, symphony, and most types of music at home as well. Like her parents, she journaled her life daily for many decades. She would skillfully utilize her Franklin planner perfectly, aligning priorities, taking notes as she listened to key details during conversations with friends and loved ones, sometimes even quietly taking notes on napkins to update her planner with later. She would remember those details of who you were, your likes and dislikes, and things that you needed or wanted, and then use that information to always have the perfect gifts for everyone on their birthdays and at Christmas.

In her final decade of life, she enjoyed volunteering at the food bank at Jefferson Presbyterian Church, supported by Second Harvest Food Bank. Unfortunately, after breaking her hip she was no longer able to stand and could not continue her volunteer work. Her mind was as sharp as a tack until the very end though, doing her crossword puzzles and playing along with Jeopardy in the evenings.

Linda outlived every doctor's prediction and her employer's actuaries, who all thought she wouldn't live past the age of 65, which drastically cut her pension. Her reminder to everyone is to always live! Don't allow others to cut your life short and always keep living, loving, and learning. Hold on to your joy when others try to dim your light and believe in yourself more than anyone else does. She would say to live your life by "The Big 10" (meaning the 10 Commandments), and to follow in Jesus' teachings and love thy neighbor, because everyone you meet will have a story you know nothing about. So always give grace, have mercy, and be kind.

Linda had many friends throughout life, though sadly she outlived many of them. She loved her friends as if they were her family, especially her childhood friend, Patricia Holden. Patricia and Linda met in the first grade and Linda's daughters would grow up calling Patricia "aunt Patricia." She also remained in close contact with Mrs. Patti Abrahamson (Bob), who she met during her 40 year career at Chase Bank.

Linda was preceded in death by her mother and father, Jean and Warren Schoner, her sister, Susan Fisher (Jim), and her eldest daughter, Jennifer Leigh Grandolfo. She is survived by her youngest daughter, Susan Catherine Leigh Condit, her granddaughters, Melissa Chatagnier (Cody) and Danielle Mefferd (Shawn), her great-grandchildren, Max and Josephine Chatagnier and Katy Mefferd, her niece and nephew, Amy Leigh Fisher and Bill Fisher, and her great-nieces and great-nephews, along with many other loving relatives and friends. Linda would also want to acknowledge her Larrieu family, express her gratitude for the love they extended to her daughter, Susan, and extend a special thank you to Joseph, Theo, and Christopher, along with their wives and children, for sharing God's love and kindness.