White River Junction, VT – Linda Jo Wilson, 74, died Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at home. Linda was born June 4, 1949, in Dayton, OH, a daughter of George and Martha (Youngerman) Jahn.

Linda lived in Ohio, Kentucky, and New Mexico before settling in the Upper Valley in 1981. While living in Louisville, KY in the mid-70's, she met Steve Wilson who stopped there to visit a mutual friend who lived in her building. A few days after meeting, she left her job with the City of Louisville and joined Steve on his trip west to Albuquerque, NM. They would live together in Albuquerque for two years, both attending classes at the University of New Mexico, before they moved to Port Royal, KY and then Ripley, OH and began building their home. They built their off-the-grid "house", which was originally planned as the chicken coop to a larger home, using hand tools and building instruction books from the public library. Linda described these years as a time of adventure. They married in 1978 and moved to the Upper Valley in 1981, where Linda designed the house that they built together in Harford, VT. They were later divorced but remained close friends.

Over the years, Linda worked in many jobs, including deconstructing and recycling buildings with Vermont Salvage, providing administrative and program support at the Upper Valley Land Trust, working as a forester, a landscape gardener, an organizer with Dakota Rural Action and more. A throughline in her work and life was a close relationship with the natural world. Over decades, Linda developed a deep knowledge of the Vermont landscape, its flora and fauna. In 1998, Linda resumed college classes, mostly studying natural sciences, before she earned her bachelor's degree from Johnson State College in 2004. While raising two daughters and working full-time, Linda was an active student, volunteer, and developed a strong and close community of friends and neighbors.

Linda was deeply involved in local land conservation efforts, serving on the Balch Hill Management Plan Committee (2002-3) of the Hanover Conservancy, working for years with the Hartford Conservation Commission, and with the Linking Lands Alliance. Later in life, Linda devoted much of her time to painting. Linda was a talented landscape artist, painting from photos taken on her travels to the Southwest and scenes in the Dakotas and Upper Valley. She sometimes exhibited her work with AVA gallery, at local libraries, other community art spaces, and even exhibited her work in the big sky landscapes she captured on the canvas.

Friends and family knew Linda for her warm and ready smile, her love and support, and her deep listening. She also shared her love of food and cooking, her appreciation for books and reading, and an unbounded curiosity.

Linda is survived by three daughters, Heather Cobb of Ohio, Amy Wilson of Philadelphia, PA, and Mary Wilson and son-in-law, Tim Mentz, of Bismark, ND; and a grandchild, Thiyata Mentz.

Condolences may be expressed to Linda's family in an online guestbook at www.knightfuneralhomes.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Upper Valley Land Trust or Hartford Conservation Fund. A service to celebrate life will be held on Sunday, September 24 at AVA Gallery (11 Bank St., Lebanon, NH) at 2pm.