EMBRO, LINDA MARIE

LINDA EMBRO (June 14, 1947 – May 1, 2022).

You probably knew her. Larger-than-life, she couldn’t resist sharing a joke with a stranger, animating stories with big Sicilian gestures, or driving by a fabric store without stopping for a bolt of colour. Linda quilted stories, knitted us together, and spun circles around us.

Linda grew up in Guelph, travelled the world, and explored the Arctic before making Tiny her home. She loved her career as a teacher-librarian; it was her life’s work to make children’s lives more joyful – she shared her love of stories, made learning fun, led Friday night ski trips, and created a safe refuge in her library. When she retired, Linda dusted off her sewing machine, and poured her creativity and care into building Home Free, a children’s charity.  Between ventures, she swam her beloved Georgian Bay in sunshine and snow, rocked Vogue fashions (handmade of course), not once failed to make a home cooked meal, and championed reduce-reuse-recycle long before that was cool.

Her husband, Bryan, two daughters, Kristen and Jennifer, sister, Rae (Peter Marsh), extended family and friends are so grateful to have shared their lives with her.

Linda taught us to live joyfully and generously, and to always turn the pages “Upstairs, downstairs, in-the-next room”.  In her honour, you may consider baking cookies for an unsuspecting neighbour, taking a refreshing plunge in Georgian Bay, creating something beautiful, or making a donation to her beloved charity, Home Free (www.home-free.org). She’d love that.