Lasting Memories

Linda Ann Kane
Dec. 31, 1953-Jan. 26, 2024
Mountain View, California
Submitted by Deb Leck

Linda Ann Kane, 70, of Mountain View, CA passed away on January 26, 2024 at Redwood City’s Mission House hospice after a lengthy illness. She was born in Philadelphia, PA on December 31, 1953 to Thomas and Ann Kane. Her father’s engineering professorship brought the family to California eight years after Linda’s birth.

With Stanford campus as a prized playground, Linda grew up happily exploring its vastness alongside her younger brother Jeff. Their youthful activities included refreshing dips into Lake Lagunita and robust family mini-treks to the newly constructed Stanford Dish radio antenna situated atop the nearby foothills.

Inspired by her parents’ love for travel and adventure, Linda became an intrepid globe trotter and refined cultural connoisseur. Visits to her father’s beloved homeland in Vienna and summer respites at her mother’s Massachusetts colonial family homestead both grounded and expanded her. These hallowed familial touch points helped shape Linda into a profoundly thoughtful, multifaceted soul.

Wherever she traveled, Linda absorbed foreign languages easily. She was fluent in and loved all things Italian. She possessed a hunger for knowledge beyond university, independently studying opera & classical literature in particular. Linda also devoured books across multiple genres from her favorite local libraries and bookstores. She thoroughly enjoyed recommending her latest reads to family and friends. Whether sharing a leisurely meal or swiftly moving along a Sierra Club trail, Linda would, if sparked, provide entertaining stories and insightful commentary.

Her deep appreciation for the arts and other cultures also played out in her entertainment pursuits. At various stages in her life one might find Linda dancing the Lambada with an exuberant flair at a Latin dance club, enjoying a surf music venue sponsored by KFJC radio, or catching a Fellini film at the old, sorely missed Palo Alto Varsity Theater. In recent years, she returned as a volunteer usher for several Stanford performing arts venues, where she viewed many of the latest & finest performances from around the globe.

Even though cancer interrupted Linda’s academic and career trajectories, she spent several years employed at Stanford University. Linda’s innately keen scrupulosity made her a valuable addition to Stanford Instructional Television Network (SITN), now known as Stanford Center for Professional Development (SCPD). It was here Linda spent a good portion of her university career as student services specialist. She enjoyed interacting with work colleagues and students alike. Shortly after her employment there, health issues took her on yet another unfortunate, but not completely unexpected, detour.

Ever aware of the hand dealt, Linda squandered nary a precious second of her time on earth. Linda navigated many years of unrelenting and untold health challenges with a quiet dignity, an unstoppable courage and a pensive grace. We will miss her eloquence, her intelligence and, most of all, her irrepressibly fun-loving nature.

Prior to her final health episode, Linda thoughtfully played a selfless role shepherding her loving parents through their respective end chapters. Linda’s father, Applied Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering Professor, Thomas Reif Kane, mother & esteemed educator Ann Elizabeth (née Andrews) Kane, and brother & poet Jeffrey Thomas Kane predeceased her. She is survived by her cherished and deeply loved nephew Seth, along with several cousins and many friends.

We are grateful for the team of angels at Mission House hospice who took exceptional care of Linda’s tender soul and brave spirit. And to neighbor Elizabeth, who went above and beyond to help with Linda’s transition, we send you a heartfelt thank you. Linda thoroughly enjoyed spending her final Thanksgiving at your home with you and your family.

In lieu of a memorial service, it would delight Linda to know you streamed some local-radio surf music, visualizing her as she dances her way joyfully into the heavens.

Godspeed dear friend. We lovingly tuck you in.