OBITUARY: Anne D. (Durr) Linehan, 91

Below is an obituary from Nichols Funeral Home:

WILMINGTON, MA — Anne Linehan (nee Willie Anne Durr), 91, died peacefully at home on January 4, 2024, with her husband of 60 years, Jeffrey, by her side.

Born May 13, 1932, in Beaumont, Texas, she was the daughter of Evelyn Durr (nee Canant) and Edward Durr. Mrs. Linehan had a single sibling, her beloved brother Vernon Durr, who was known as “Jack”. Her mother died in the 1940’s; her father in the 1970’s; and her brother, Jack, in 1966.

Mrs. Linehan attended Beaumont (TX) High School, Southwest Business School in Texas, and later in adulthood, took classes at Middlesex Community College. She was a lifelong student, completing classwork in mindfulness meditation, religious education, and the Civil Rights movement.

When she married, Mrs. Linehan was the publisher of “Holiday by the Sea,” a popular tourist guide to the Long Beach, California attractions. She had also worked as a secretary and done some commercial modeling.

Active with the American Red Cross for many years, Mrs. Linehan focused primarily on disaster relief services with the agency. She served with the Red Cross during the 1968 riots that followed the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and later in numerous weather-related emergencies in New England.

An avid social activist, she had marched with Dr. King during multiple actions, including a large Civil Rights protest in Chicago. In later years, Mrs. Linehan continued her commitment to the Civil Rights movement and became active in the “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign championed by then First Lady Nancy Reagan. In Wilmington, Mrs. Linehan was active in advocating for “walkability” projects, specifically the addition of sidewalks to public streets, and in environmental concerns, specifically the clean up of Lubber’s Brook in North Wilmington, a tributary to the Ipswich River.

She was a parishioner at St. Thomas of Villanova, where she attended Mass with her husband and volunteered as a religious education instructor.

Mrs. Linehan enjoyed democracy with all its foibles and was an active participant at Town Meetings from the early 1970’s until her illness prevented her from voicing her opinions.

She is survived by her husband, Jeffrey Linehan of Wilmington. They married in Avalon on Catalina Island (CA) on January 17, 1964. Mr. Linehan was then serving on active duty in the United States Navy out of Long Beach, California. A military wife for many years, Mrs. Linehan made homes for her family in Long Beach, California; Newport, Rhode Island, where two of her children were born in the then existing U.S. Naval Hospital, and Forest Park, Illinois.

She sought to instill a belief in service to others in everyone she encountered.

Mrs. Linehan is the mother of Evelyn DeWitt of DeSoto, Texas; Jeffrey (Kristen) of Van Nuys, California; Mary Linehan of Linwood, New Jersey; and Joseph (Irene) of Celebration, Florida. One of her children served on active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard. She is the grandmother of Celeste, Bailey Julia, Ellen Hester, Harold, Jeremiah, Joshua, and Eliza. Two of her grandchildren serve on active duty in the U.S. Army.

A wake will be held at the Nichols Funeral Home, 187 Middlesex Avenue, Wilmington, MA 01887 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00m p.m. on January 10, 2024. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, January 11, 2024, at St. Thomas of Villanova, 126 Middlesex Ave., Wilmington.

En lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Mrs. Linehan’s honor to the American Red Cross, PO Box 37839, Boone, IA 50037-0839.