Linda Irene Burpee

On Saturday, June 17, 2023, surrounded by family and friends, Linda Burpee, age 78, of Deming passed away after a sudden illness, at Skagit Valley Medical Center.   She was born to Lonnie and Frances Lundberg in Yakima, Washington, moving from Prosser to Whatcom County in 1963 to attend Western Washington State College. There she met the love of her life, Bruce Burpee, and they married in 1966.  After a several year break, Linda went back to school and graduated from WWU in 1980 with a degree in Housing and Design.  She entered the field of Interior Design, having her own business for over 20 years.  She became a Certified Interior Designer and was the first person in Whatcom County to become a Certified Kitchen Designer.   She helped many homeowners create beautiful and functional homes and volunteered her talents at Bellingham Theatre Guild and elsewhere.

Linda was a loving and caring person and made many long and close friendships.  She was an exceptional cook, and enjoyed creating meals for friends, including an annual Christmas dinner where she prepared a large variety of tasty treats.  After dinner, she was always up for playing a game of some kind.  Sequence board game, Golf card game, and Zilch dice game were always favorites.  If a friend was sick, they knew that Linda would soon be on their doorstep with a meal or two to help the healing process. 

Linda was incredibly creative.  She could completely visualize a finished project, big or small, and then had the artistic and communication skills to bring her vision into reality.  She loved making cards and doing calligraphy.  She joined RainWriters, a local calligraphy guild, and served as president for seven years.

Linda loved all aspects of gardening, from planning and landscaping their yard to harvesting and canning the produce grown.  She especially loved having colorful flowers in pots on the terrace.  For many years she threatened to enter some of her goods in the NW Washington Fair, and in 2022 she did so, winning a First Premium and a Special Award for her bread, which she made from scratch, including grinding the grains.  She joined the Everson Garden Club where she loved to learn and share gardening ideas.  She served as president of the club for several years.

Linda played a large role in the community as a board member of the Friends of the Deming Library.  She enjoyed and was good at raising money to support the Deming Library.  Her biggest events were a Foothills Garden Tour to support the library and selling raffle tickets to people who wanted to be the first to cross the new bridge at Nugent’s Corner with a parade of cars, buses, and trucks following the lucky winners.

Linda and Bruce loved to travel and made several lifelong friends of people they met on their trips.  She especially loved a Norway cruise where they met a couple from Wales who continue to be friends even though over 5000 miles apart. 

Linda loved animals.  Cuddling puppies and kittens was always a real joy.  For the last eight years she had a deep connection with her cat Snickers.  Whenever Linda sat down, Snickers was sure to be on her lap. 

Linda is survived by her husband Bruce of 55 years, many close friends, a sister, a brother, nieces and nephews and her cat Snickers.  She will be mightily missed.  At her request, there will be no funeral services.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Foothills Food Bank, Lighthouse Mission, or the charity of your choice.