John J. Bryers Funeral Home, Inc.
406 North Easton RoadWillow Grove,
Pennsylvania 19090
(215) 659 – 1630
Jeffrey S. Thompson-Supervisor
Linda Landi, 57, a Philadelphia native and long time Lancaster County resident, died early Sunday, Nov.1 in Reading Hospital after a brief battle with breast cancer. She died peacefully, soon after sharing time with family, holding the hand of one she loved so much. The daughter of Louis and the late Mary (McRae) Landi, born and raised in Philadelphia, Linda attended St. Athanasius grade school and Cardinal Dougherty High School. She always appreciated how her parents instilled in her a strong appreciation for the value of hard work as well as of compassion and kindness. Later, she later lived in Willow Grove and Horsham, and moved to East Cocalico Heights, Stevens, Lancaster County more than 20 years ago. Linda Landi had strong faith and believed firmly that when her time on this earth was done—as it was so sadly, so soon--she would be with the Lord. Her faith and love in Jesus added one more spark to an already sparkling, brightly shining life. She was an award-winning sales manager with Sprint Nextel who took pride in discovering, training, coaching and encouraging people to achieve their highest potential, in life as well as in work. Her career is a true example of the self-made success story. Linda Landi worked her way up from a receptionist job to sales and from sales to top sales management with several leading companies. Even in her early twenties at the very start of her work life, she prided herself in having run a business on the side with her then-husband, while working full time at the clerical job. Prior to her Sprint-Nextel career, she had attained similar success in the highly competitive, high-pressured communications industry with companies such as Motorola, Metromedia Communications and Mobilemedia. She never stopped learning, adapting or trying to improve, and she never stopped encouraging others to see the potential life had to offer. In addition to her father, Linda is survived by her brother Louis, and her sisters Susan Lucas (husband, John) and Patricia McFarland (former husband, Scott) and children Ashley and Corey, as well as by her aunt Joan Mulhern and her love of more than 30 years, Jack McGettigan. She also is survived by those she considered her extended family through Jack: Peg and Bob Miedel, their children Emily and Doug and their families. Linda was preceded in death several years ago by her mother and, three months ago, by her beloved little shih-tzu, Feebe. Those who know her recall how Linda always lived life to the fullest and found just as much joy in watching others enjoy life as well. She wanted the best for everyone she knew and she wanted everyone to have the chance to be their best. She enjoyed great food (cooking it, which she did excellently, or dining out, which she enjoyed with her family and friends); good wine (which she liked to call “vino tinto,” from her Mexican travels), all kinds of music; singing and dancing and just having fun; old movies and Broadway shows (Phantom was a special favorite), beaches and camping at the Jersey shore and vacations in Cancun and the Caribbean. “From the first time I knew her, I called her angel, and if an angel is a special being sent from God to help you see and live better and more lovingly and completely, she truly was an angel in my own life. Through her eyes, I saw a cold cruel world that could be bright and beautiful and a life that was blessed…I saw a love that became unconditional and transcended the limitations of time and space, of life and death,” McGettigan said. “If I ever got a glimpse of heaven, saw a clue about God or tried to envision the Jesus she loved and talked about so much, it was through those beautiful sparkling brown eyes. Over the last couple of weeks, whenever she’d talk to—or about-- someone in her life, she’d smile through a tear and say ‘Tell them that all my life….all my life…I will remember them and love them.’ I know she believed with all her heart that all her life will not end when this life does. So, in her heart and her soul, she knew that we all will have an angel’s love with us for forever,” he said. As friends and co-workers learned of Linda’s illness in recent weeks, they sent along many touching thoughts and comments in e-mails, letters and phone calls, telling how much Linda meant to them and how she had touched their lives with her upbeat, positive personality, loving heart and the way she had of making every person with whom she spoke feel as if they were the most important person in the world at that moment. “I will remember her smile forever, her love of clothes, her style, her own special and unique Linda Landi flair, her ever changing hairstyles, her love for Feebe, her true love of people, her ability to relate to so many on so many levels… Her enthusiasm and zest for life and her encouragement of other,” wrote Elaine Patti. “Let's continue our lives Linda Landi style, just like she'd want. Let's honor her legacy with each day we have left, living life to the fullest, helping anyone we can along the way, just like Linda would.” “I have worked with Linda since the day I started at Nextel in the Allentown office, 11 and 1/2 years ago. She is truly just the best. She is one of those rare people you meet and she just leaves an impression upon you from the first moment,” said co-worker Maureen Wagner Her boss at Sprint, Kathryn Martz said, “Linda has always been a special person who led her teams with determination, integrity and heart. Any one who has been on ‘Team Landi’ is better for the experience of having worked for Linda. She has touched many lives, both personally and professionally.” Her immediate supervisor with the company, Branch Manager Joseph Strempel said of her: “Linda won so many sales awards they couldn’t be counted. She took individuals who were struggling to survive and turned them into over-achievers. I crowned her the number One General Business Manager in 2006. I actually had reps from other teams request to work for Linda, and that doesn’t happen very often. The bottom line-- Linda is a Rock Star and she will always be in my eyes and the eyes of the people who know her.” Finally, another co-worker, Bill Brittingham, wrote: “Linda is just a tremendous person that I have the ultimate respect and love for…professionally, she groomed me and kept me balanced when needed…I would not be where I am today without Linda. I owe her more than she realized…she was always so proud of me (like a mom)…but I was even more proud to tell everyone that she was my manager and I learned so much from her.” Funeral arrangements are being handled by Bryers Funeral Home, 406 North Easton Rd., Willow Grove. A visitation/viewing will begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday, November 6, with a funeral mass at St. David’s church, 316 North Easton Rd. to start at 11 a.m. Internment will be in Holy Sepulcher cemetery at a later date. Editor’s Note: In an e-mail obituary/note to her friends, McGettigan quoted the chorus from a favorite old country song he’d always hoped to sing for her, because it reminded him (me) of how he felt about life since knowing Linda (but, mercifully, never inflicted such auditory pain upon the patient woman)…I know it is really way too corny to include in the body of any obituary, but as an added-on, final comment, he (I) wanted to add it here, for no other reason than, even though it doesn’t fit….in some way, it belongs (even though it should remain invisible, of course)… Let the world stop turning,
let the sun stop burning,
let them tell me love's not worth going through.
If it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart,
the only dream that mattered had come true;
in this life I was loved by you.
In this life, I was loved by you.