WILMINGTON — Ms. Linda Lou Soto, 82, passed peacefully in the early hours of Sunday morning, Dec. 1, 2019. She passed on in hospice care at her daughter’s home in Montgomery Village, Maryland, and was attended by members of her family at her departing.
Linda was born May 10, 1937, in Charleston, West Virginia, the daughter of the late Joseph S. Soto and Priscilla Hunter Soto. She grew up in West Virginia in the loving care of her large extended family including her parents; brother, Joseph L. Soto; and countless aunts, uncles and elders. She graduated from Concord College, Athens, West Virginia, with a B.S. Degree in Education and the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, with an M.S. in Library Sciences.
From 1960 to 1996, Linda was married to the late Richard Cobb Jett Jr. of Lexington, Kentucky, living first in Indianapolis, Indiana, and since 1962, in the Washington, D.C., area of Northern Virginia. During this time, she worked as librarian for Union Carbide, Eli Lilly, and the Department of the Navy before raising her family of two daughters, Mary and Debbie. She returned to work as information specialist with Research, Analysis & Management Corporation and department chief of the Corporate Technical Library at EG&G Services Inc. Following her retirement, she volunteered avidly for the Smithsonian Institution, both for the Department of Anthropology of the Museum of Natural History and with guest services of the Museum of American History. She fostered a life-long love of art, practicing on many media from craft to fine art, most notably as an award-winning colored-pencil artist.
She is survived by her daughter, Mary Catherine Jett Byrne, and her husband, Michael, and grandsons, Colin and Andrew, of Victoria, British Columbia; daughter, Debra Ann Jett, and her partner, Scott McQuade, of Montgomery Village, Maryland; brother, Joseph Lee Soto, and his wife, Sherry, of Wilmington; and her extended family of cousins, nieces and nephews throughout America’s southwest.
The family will receive friends from 1 to 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7, at at the Valley Chapel of Andrews Mortuary, 4108 S. College Road, Wilmington. The Rev. Barry Stallings of Pine Valley United Methodist Church will conduct a chapel service at 2 p.m. at the funeral home following visitation. A graveside service will follow at 3 p.m. in Oleander Memorial Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Colored Pencil Society of America or Smithsonian.
Share online condolences with the family at Andrews Mortuary & Crematory.
