Linda Sloss Woodside

Linda Edith Sloss Woodside passed away peacefully, surrounded by her children, after enduring almost 20 years of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Her fierce strength, determination, and holistic approach to her disease allowed her to enjoy her 6 beloved “life-sustaining” grandchildren.

Linda was born on July 21, 1948, to Joseph Sloss, Jr. and Suzanne Rosener Sloss. She graduated from Katherine Delmar Burke’s School in San Francisco in 1966, where she met and sustained lifelong friendships. She attended UC Davis, where she met her husband, Steven Michael Woodside (former Chief County Counsel for Santa Clara, Sonoma and Marin Counties). They both graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 1970, wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War/Cambodian Invasion and the Kent State Massacre. After graduation, Linda pursued a teaching credential, also from UC Santa Cruz, and got her first teaching job in Alameda Unified School District. A staunch supporter of public education, Linda was an elementary school teacher for 37 years at Alameda, Oak Grove, and Santa Rosa City School Districts, teaching countless students the importance and value of their own education.

Throughout her life in and around the Bay Area (San Francisco, Davis, Santa Cruz, Capitola, Berkeley, San Jose and then Santa Rosa), Linda truly embodied a positive presence, taking the time to be fully engaged with anyone she came across, sharing her warmth, her smile, her generosity, her grace, and her love with each and every person. Loved ones describe Linda as a “living miracle”--a fighter, an unimaginably open heart, a kind soul with strength of character and goodwill towards others. Linda was extremely committed to family and would often quote her father, who reminded everyone to “count your blessings.” Linda was always grateful for each second with her family and dear friends and would consistently encourage them to “stay in the moment.”

Her children, Sarah, Allison and David, along with their partners, Jeff, Jake and Jordan, as well as her grandchildren, Brynley, Bodie, Wyatt, Alexander, Wesley and Rylan will carry on their “Lolly’s” spirit. The world needs more people like Lolly, and her children are committed to sharing more love in her honor. Please join them by being kind to one another, pausing to say hello and asking your neighbors how they are doing. In return, you will help to ensure she lives on.

In addition to spreading loving kindness, please consider donating in memory of Linda Sloss Woodside to Hospital de la Familia (https://www.hospitalfamiliafoundation.org/donate), a hospital in Nuevo Progreso, Guatemala, started with support from her father and other members of the Family Club in San Francisco in the early 1970s.