Linda’s caring nature was always to the fore
THERE was much sadness at the news that Linda Saunders passed away peacefully on New Year’s Day after a brave battle against illness.
She had only moved to Slaney Woods in Co Wexford at the end of October.
Highly respected within the local Wicklow community, Linda was involved in a multitude of different organisations, including positions with Wicklow Chamber of Commerce (she was a former CEO) and the National Transport Authority (NTA).
She was also heavily involved with playing bridge and was both a member and a past-President of the Neptune Bridge Club and also served in the East Region Executive.
She also led a campaign for a bridge centre in Wicklow town to accommodate all the bridge clubs in the area.
Linda was the CEO of Wicklow Chamber of Commerce for two years, from 2003 to 2005, where she increased revenues, created a regular newsletter and inaugurated the ‘shop local’ campaign.
She was a Senior Transportation Planner for the Dublin Transportation Office from 2007 to 2010 and was appointed to the Board of Directors of the NTA in 2009. She also became Chairperson of the Audit and Risk Committee.
She was the Regional Manager for Wick- low during the 2006 Census and spent a year acting as a consultant for Wicklow County Tourism.
For 20-years she ran the Old Rectory Country House and Restaurant in Wicklow town with her husband Paul.
The four-star hotel won many awards for its high standard of accommodation, while the restaurant also received plenty of recognition. They sold the business in 1999.
From 1999 to 2000, Linda served as the Chairperson of the Wicklow Branch of the Irish Hotel Federation.
Prior to moving to County Wicklow, Linda worked in the United Kingdom as a Transportation Planner for the Greater London Council up until 1976.
More recently, she was part of the Wicklow Head Preservation Group which won a heritage award from the Wicklow Uplands Council for maintaining the Three Lighthouse laneway.
She entered a stretch of the laneway into the PURE Mile competition and also wrote a book about the history of the lighthouse and the lane.
Linda was also extremely well-travelled and organised trips-abroad with a group of friends. Destinations included Cuba, South Africa, Hawaii, Egypt and Thailand.
They went on to sell the business in 1999.
Linda is survived by her husband Paul, her daughter Eleanor and her son Daniel.
Renowned for her caring nature, Linda decided to leave her body to medical science in the hope that she could help others once she had passed.