Linda L. Barringer

Linda Barringer, of Missoula, loving and loved wife, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother, passed away unexpectedly on September 25, 2021. She was 85 years old.

Linda was born in McIntosh, SD, and raised in Miles City where she attended grade school and high school. She met and married her husband, Henry “Red” Barringer, in Miles City, and they raised their sons, Dwight and Greg, there until moving to Missoula in 1968. Linda and Red moved to Renton, WA in the early 1980’s and then returned to Missoula in 1990. She worked her entire adult life, first as a secretary for the Department of Child and Family Services in Miles City and Missoula, and then as a secretary and bookkeeper for a travel agency in Renton, WA. She retired upon her return to Missoula. Linda was a lifelong member of the 1st Presbyterian Churches in Miles City and Missoula, and she taught Sunday School at both locations.

A woman of boundless curiosity, Linda would try anything at least once - and that was most often more than enough. She loved being around the water, at the boat “pond” in Miles City and then Salmon and Seeley Lakes - a water skier of unusual grace and counter-in-chief of deer, birds and other fauna on evening cruises around Seeley Lake. Linda adored traveling and experiencing other cultures. She visited all but a small handful of the states, Europe several times, as well as Russia, China, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti and Mexico. A prolific writer of letters, an adept Scrabble player, tenacious ping-pong player, polished pianist, frequenter of the pool at the Y and weekly lunches with friends, master of jello salads and puddings, square/round dancer and seamstress of dresses and shirts for same, mender of wounds, legislator of family rules, chief investigator of errant sons, Linda’s interests and pursuits were broad and varied, and her life full.

But most of all, Linda loved her family. They were the center of her life. She leaves behind her husband, Red, her sons, Dwight and Greg, her daughter-in-law, Rene, her former daughter-in-law, Judy, her grandchildren, Jacob and Rachel, as well as numerous siblings-in-law, nephews, nieces, cousins, their respective families, and many friends. Linda will always be a part of all of their lives.

A memorial service will be held for Linda on Thursday, October 7, 2021 at 1:30pm, at the 1st Presbyterian Church of Missoula, 235 South 5th Street West. She will subsequently be interred next to her parents, Earl and Agnes Rogers, in Miles City.