Full Professor Linda Christian-Smith (Kanios), PhD, departed the living on Thursday afternoon, October 27, 2022 at the age of 76 years.  She was born on December 13, 1945 in Duluth MN, the daughter of Theodore and Regina Kanios.  Husband Ken swept her off her feet in April 1976, even though she was one and one-half years older; thus, the nickname, “Cougar.�  She loved reading and always carried a book or crossword puzzle book, AKA, “The Bookworm.  Beloved mom to “Jackie,� her 4-year old cat – about the 20th.

She is survived by her husband Kenneth Smith, her sister Lisa Ann (Kanios) Wicklund, and her great cousin, Carol Lou Botten (daughter Robin).  She is preceded in death by her parents and brother.  Private services were held.

Memorials to Washington County Humane Society in Slinger are appreciated.   Linda belonged to and donated to about 100 animal organizations, and was still a member of Friends of Germantown, WI Library and Christmas Committee of Hartford, WI, which supports low-income people of the area.  



Linda loved education and received her B.A. in Duluth, MN, two M.S.’s at UW-Milwaukee and finally her doctorate at UW-Madison.  She taught elementary school in Moose Lake, MN, high school in Brookfield, WI, and middle school in Franklin, WI for 21 years.  Then, Linda began teaching at Marian College in Fond du Lac, WI and finally UW Oshkosh in Oshkosh, WI  for 15 years, retiring in early 2003 after 36 years of teaching and 12 years of advanced schooling while working full- or part-time. (24 years of schooling).

Beginning in early 2003, Linda began working on her “bucket list,� completing almost 90% of it in only 15 years, before her continuous medical problems, since childhood, became too overwhelming for her.  The husband/wife team had purchased a small motorhome in 2005 and a medium one in 2007, putting almost 50,000 miles on the first and over 75,000 on the second one.  They visited Canada six times, Alaska three times, and all the Western, Mid-western, and Southern states, except for the Northeast where her father’s family was from.  The medium motorhome had slide-outs on the left-side - bedroom, bath, kitchen, and living room.  It has now sat next to the garage for five years.

The family wishes to extend a heartfelt ‘thank-you’ to Froedtert Hospital in southeastern Wisconsin, the Aurora – Grafton hospital ICU and wound care unit. The Lawliss Family Hospice in Mequon took excellent care of cellulitis and six other diseases – heart, lungs, kidney, thyroid, plus blood clots for 35 days in late September and almost all of October.
Posted By: Administrator - 05-01-2023
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