Linda Susan Thomson

She was born in San Diego, CA and was raised in a Navy family. Her love of travel and embracing new people and cultures started with her family moving approximately every two years. She graduated from W.T. Woodson High School, Annandale, VA in 1970, and completed two years at Lynchburg College before taking advantage of living abroad when her parents were assigned to Portugal. Three years later, she returned to Annandale, VA where she entered the workforce and made her home. She worked with several companies before she went to work for Mobil Oil Corporation. During her tenure, she helped her team as they transitioned through the Mobil/Exxon merger and she rose to the position of Senior Executive Assistant for Exxon Mobil’s Tax Department before retiring.

Linda was thankful every day and for all of her friends. She surrounded herself with a variety of activities and friend groups. With each person in her life, she shared something unique — providing advice to a friend in need, enjoying the sun and sand with friends on the beach, watching Best Picture Oscar nominees before awards, helping decorate a friend's house, or moving a friend across the country, or both. She loved scrapbooking, chronicling her travels and friendships. She had recently completed a weekend scrapbooking crop the month before, catching up with friends and chronicling another event in her life. She loved nothing more than to win Rage, a card game played with another group of friends, so she could win the honor of creating a new ‘look’ for ‘Rage-ina’, the group's rhino mascot.

Linda’s passion was Artistic Swimming (Synchronized swimming). She began swimming synchro in 1978, after briefly participating in the sport in 7th grade and her sophomore year in college. She entered the Masters Nationals that year and never stopped! She traveled the world either competing in Masters events or cheering on fellow team members. She won a duet gold in Brazil in 1990, a team gold in Budapest in 2017, as well as many other awards and medals during her career. In 2016 she won the Mae McEwan award (US Masters Athlete of the Year). When she wasn’t traveling she was ‘bedazzling’ teammates’ suits or headpieces with sequins or beads. She, with another swimmer, also visualized a memorial banner for Masters Artistic Swimmers who had died and Linda did all the cross-stitching of each of the names. It hangs at every USA National Masters competition.

Her time in Artistic Swimming was not just as an athlete. She was a coach for many years for the Northern Virginia Neried’s and was a 40 plus-year member of the DC Synchromasters. Linda was an active member of the USAAS South Zone participating enthusiastically at the sport's annual convention and a regular contributor to the Zone's fundraising efforts for the USAAS Foundation. With each friend or group, she connected deeply, but differently, with everyone close to her, and those relationships were genuine, personal, and lasting.

Linda is preceded in death by Alexander Dingwall Thomson (father) and Elinor Ufer Thomson (mother).

Linda is survived by CAPT Alan Douglas Thomson, USN, Retired (brother), Judy Hall Thomson (Alan’s wife), Aaron Daniel Thomson (nephew), Gregory Alan Thomson (nephew), Allison Mathis (Gregory’s wife), and Caroline Elizabeth Thomson (great niece) and a wide circle of friends.