“Once you were a friend of Linda’s, you became a part of the family, and your relationship never ended,” said Kathy Myers this afternoon at Linda Boor’s Celebration of Life. Kathy’s words summed up my experience of Linda and her family. In 1982 or 1983, I accepted an invitation to their annual 4th of July horseshoe tournament, the Owlchak Invitational, held at their cabin in Pinetop. Though I was the only single, mid-20′s motorcycle riding guy at the event, they welcomed me like family. Once invited to the tournament, future invitations were assumed. If I recall correctly, I went for about 4 years. I watched her two teenage children, Ray Jr. and Deanna, grow up over those years. I particularly remember buying a pair of jeans from Ray Jr. when he was working at Miller’s Outpost in Fiesta Mall.
I first met Linda in 1980, when she was Linda Prokopchak. I had just started at Tom Fannin Realty in Tempe. We worked closely together when Linda secured accounts with developers to market new homes. Linda insisted that I be on the sales team, despite the developer’s concern that I was too young. I’ve never gotten over the faith and loyalty Linda placed in me. During the time she managed the projects I worked, I never experienced being “managed.” I suspect that was one of her secrets to success when she became a top performing manager in the Merrill Lynch Realty organization.
In 1988, I left real estate for software. When it came time to move in 1996, Linda and her husband Jeff Boor were our choice to handle our transactions. We socialized a bit afterwards, but I can’t recall the last time I saw Linda. We kept in touch with birthday wishes, and the regular real estate newsletters and updates. The last communication I received from Linda was a birthday greeting in April 2010. Jeff notified me of Linda’s passing in March.
It would be fair to question the friendship of two people who hadn’t seen each other in a decade or spoken directly in years. Not if you knew Linda, and not if you know me. There was simply no question that I would attend her memorial service. If this seems odd to you, I can’t and won’t try to explain. I simply know this: When I hugged Deanna after the service, no words were necessary, though at least 20 years had gone by.
If you were Linda’s friend, time and distance were irrelevant. So it is with me.
Yes, and so it is with Ted. This doesn’t surprise me a bit, knowing the compassionate, dedicated man that you are.
Thank you, Bill.