Linda Lehr-Bethke

Linda J. Lehr-Bethke, retired Licensed Dyslexia Therapist of Temple, TX, passed on to glory on September 13, 2018 after a courageous battle with breast cancer which metastasized to her liver. Linda was born in Waco, TX to parents Dr. John W. Lehr, DDS and Mrs. Jo Ann Woffard of Athens, TX. Linda was blessed with two little sisters, Lisa and Mary Lehr, whom she affectionately mothered their entire lives.

Linda married and gave birth to two children, Robert Wade and Jessica Lynn Bethke. Linda later went to college at UMHB and received her Education degree, which she immediately put to use supporting herself and her children, working as a Remedial Reading Teacher in Holland, TX. As she taught she found there were some children she could not help and that led her to Scottish Rite Hospital where she spent several summers earning her Dyslexia Therapist license. Linda was over the moon when she became a grandmother to Devante J. and Juliana D. Rhodes and counted them blessings when she became a great-grandmother to Braelynn Davis and Jayden Rhodes. Linda was a cherished and wonderful daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, friend and teacher. She was a lady of great faith, love, kindness, strength and humor.

She is survived by her daughter, Jessica L. Bethke-Rhodes; her grandchildren Devante and Juliana Rhodes; her great-grandchildren Braelynn Davis and Jayden Rhodes; her sister and her husband Lisa and Doug Millsap; her brother-in-law Lanny and Janet Blacklock; and her nephews Cory and Sean Blacklock and nieces Amy and Emily Blacklock.; and countless cousins. She was preceded in death by her mother, Jo Ann and father John William Lehr, her youngest sister Mary Lehr-Blacklock, and her son Robert Wade Bethke.

Upon learning of her impending homecoming, Linda wanted to share this passage written by H.S. Holland, Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, with all:
"Death is nothing at all; I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you; whatever we were to each other, that we still are. Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way you always used. Put no difference into your tone, wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it always was; there is absolutely unbroken continuity. I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near. Just around the corner."

I would like to thank all of our family members, friends and the YaYa's for your love and support of our family. In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia online at scottishritehospital.org

Harper-Talasek Funeral Home in Temple is in charge of arrangements.