Linda Roberts Brownlee's Obituary
Linda Alice Roberts Brownlee – June 8, 1939 – May 26, 2016 Linda Alice Roberts Brownlee was born in Atlanta, Texas on June 8, 1939 to Lieutenant Colonel Standlee D. Roberts and Margaret Garrott Roberts. She grew up in Denton, Texas and graduated from Denton High School in 1957, where she was a member of the band “8 Beats”, an all-female singing group that performed on the Pat Boone TV Show in 1956. She graduated from Texas Tech University in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science in Education. At Texas Tech, she met the love of her life Woodrow O. (Woody) Brownlee. Linda pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma, was a Kappa Kappa Gamma song leader, and was named top twenty beauty and Kappa Sigma Miss Pledge. Linda and Woody married on December 30, 1960 in Denton, Texas. After teaching in Lubbock, the couple moved to Garland, Texas where Linda became a second grade teacher until they started a family. With three children at home, Linda managed a showroom at the Dallas Apparel Market for 17 years, five of which were spent at the Dallas Trade Market Center. Linda was an organizing investor in Hayslip Design Associates. She began a career in the mortgage business as a loan officer, became a manager for various mortgage companies including Bank United and Colonial National Mortgage, and eventually moved to Ebby Halliday Realtors to work alongside Woody. Linda was an active member of the community and served in several leadership roles throughout the years. She was President of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Night Group, founder of the Garland Panhellenic Association, Girl Scout Brownie Troop leader of Troop 468, and participant of the Garland Bankers’ Wives Club, American Association of University Women, First United Methodist Board of Stewards, and League of Women Voters. She had a love of the fine arts and was founding organizing president of the Performing Arts Center Guild, Chairman of the Garland Arts Commission, Member of Garland Summer Musicals Guild, and was a soprano in the First United Methodist Church Choir. In 2010, the Linda Brownlee Auditorium was named in her honor as recognition of her contribution to the Performing Arts Center. Linda loved cooking, traveling, gardening, performing, and spending time with her family. She traveled to all of the continents except Antarctica. She performed in every GSM Guild Roast, including her own. She was the great grandchild of General Isham Warren Garrott, one of the 6 Confederate generals killed at Vicksburg. Garrott Fort never fell. She was great grandchild of John Stephen Roberts, organizing County Judge of both Hardeman and Ford Counties. Linda is survived by her husband Woody, her son Woodrow R. (Bo) Brownlee and his wife Sherry, daughter Shelley E. Brownlee, daughter Malinda and her husband Keith Howell; her grandson Brandon David Brownlee, her granddaughter Evin Anne Brownlee and Evin’s fiancé Alex Dunn. Memorial Service will be held on Monday, May 2, 2016 at 2 PM at First Untied Methodist Church, Garland, Texas. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75243.
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