Linda Sue Jefferies

Linda Sue Jefferies, 61, of Fort Collins passed away on September 19th following a two-year long cancer battle. Linda was born in Denver to Joe and Mary Giardina and attended Denver Public Schools eventually graduating from John F Kennedy High School. She received her BS from Colorado State University. Always the ever-caring person she chose to walk away from her PhD program, where she pioneered development of techniques to analyze hormone binding proteins in insects, to be a stay-at home mom prior to the birth of her second child.

Once both of her children were in school full-time, Linda joined the private sector work force and began a lengthy career as a scientist. It is work she truly loved and considered it her great fortune that her final employer was Cargill where she worked as an Oil Process Developer.

Linda had an unquestioned love and affinity for the mountains. 1976 was the first year that she joined the Youth Conservation Corp (YCC) and worked alongside other youth in Rocky Mountain National Park. Her many years of restoration and rehabilitation work in the Park not only instilled a deep conviction to conservation, it also created life-long friendships that are as strong today as ever. Earlier in her youth, Linda was a CampFire girl and as an adult, became a CampFire leader. Her conservation ethos and affinity of fly fishing eventually led to her membership in Trout Unlimited. Not only a member of the local TU non-profit chapter Rocky Mountain Flycasters, she served as the Membership Chair, a Board Officer and was the volunteer management system coordinator. While Linda always joked that fly-fishing provided her an opportunity to spend more time with her husband, her unyielding conviction that we need to find balance and compromise regarding natural resource management practices and policies was a key component in her life and a driver in her decision making process.

Linda is survived by her husband Dick of Fort Collins, daughter Lindsay (Bob) and son Will. She is also survived by her two north-star grandsons Lennon and Brooks; sister Koralee (Dennis); brother Ralph (Linda); niece and nephew Kayla and Joe; two sisters-in-spirit Deanna and Mary Ellen; many loving cousins and her extended YCC family.

A celebration of life and funeral mass will be held in Fort Collins at Saint John XXIII on October 4th at 1:30 pm. A short reception will be held immediately following the service.

In lieu of flowers Linda requested you honor her love and passion of the rivers and streams of Colorado by supporting cold water conservation through a gift to Trout Unlimited. Gifts can be sent to: Rocky Mountain Flycasters PO Box 1694, Fort Collins CO 80524-1694.