Barbara Linden
Glastonbury — Barbara Ann Linden, 80, of Glastonbury, predeceased by her beloved husband of 40 years, Richard F. Linden, passed away June 13, 2020, at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford from complications due to a long and courageous battle with breast cancer, only after defeating COVID-19. Just know that Barbara never let these diseases take her spirit; life’s circumstances just happened.
She was born May 15, 1940, in New Britain to the late Philip J. Ciepiel and Frances Kopera Ciepiel. At the age of 7, after the death of her mother, Barbara moved to Moodus (East Haddam), where Stanley and Clara Strycharz would raise her; and subsequently, she became a longtime resident. She graduated in 1958.
Barbara began her career as a private secretary for Standard and Knapp in Portland, where she met her husband Richard. They were married in 1967, and relocated to the Hartford area, ultimately moving to Glastonbury, where they made their forever home. Barbara developed a rewarding career working for several financial institutions and stock brokerage firms. She retired from the financial industry in December 2019, after a long and illustrious career full of accolades.
Barbara was a constant in the family, always there to help with arranging family events, watching over children and providing support wherever it was needed. She will always be remembered for being there for her family and friends. Barbara also enjoyed socializing at the casino with her friends and, most of all, her brother John, reminiscing with close and dearest friend, sister Helen, a good meal at Max’s, shopping in NYC, watching her grandson play golf, her granddaughter ride horses, hair styling appointments with Gino and enjoying a show at the Goodspeed Opera House, where she was a patron.
Barbara leaves to mourn her loss, her daughter Melissa Linden-Sauve and her husband, Todd Sauve of Ontario, Canada, and her beloved grandchildren: Gage Williams Linden and Brooke Ann Sauve; and stepson Richard A. Linden and family; her brother John Ciepiel and niece Maria, in Texas; her sister Helen Schmitt and husband Richard, in Florida; and her godson, Joseph Schmitt, in Maryland; and her niece Monica in Maryland. She also leaves many great and amazing friends, Lisa Lagosh, Jo-Ann Sasali and Steve Johnson, of whom all were there for her up until the end.
No memorial service is currently scheduled, but will be held at a later date due to the COVID-19 situation. Farley-Sullivan Funeral Home in Glastonbury will provide services. The family has asked that donations in her memory may be made to Mission Believe Heroes at www. carrollcommunity-foundation. org, a charity set up to sustain veterans in beekeeping.