LOWVILLE, NY – Linda A. Sells of Lowville, NY, passed away on August 27, 2023, at Hospice of Jefferson County in Watertown, NY, after a long illness.
Born Linda (Lyn) Anne Holtz in Sturgis, Michigan, on June 28, 1943, to parents Dorothy and Leon Holtz, she attended Oakland University in Michigan earning a B.A. and M.A. degrees in Humanities.
She began her career teaching elementary school in Baltimore, Maryland, and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, which allowed her to teach overseas in Scotland for a year.
Lyn loved living abroad and taught for 40 years for the U.S. Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DODDS), with 19 of those years teaching art in elementary, middle and high schools in Germany, and held art instruction classes for adults on occasion.
As an artist, Lyn worked with watercolors and pastels, and her preferred medium, acrylic paints. She drew her inspiration from her hobbies:Â gardening, birdwatching, nature and horseback riding (beloved horse Mariah). Â Her work was showcased in multiple exhibits in Germany, Baltimore and the Twentynine Palms Art Gallery in California.
While teaching in Germany, Lyn met Paul Stackel, who was also a teacher for DODDS. They got married on July 18, 2004 in Lowville, and after retirement, they divided their time between their homes in Twentynine Palms and Glenfield, New York, before permanently settling in Lowville in 2021. They both enjoyed traveling, especially via cruises throughout Europe and North America.
Linda was predeceased by her parents, her sister Janet, brother Gary, and first-husband Joseph Duncan Sells.
She is survived by her husband, Paul Stackel, her sister-in-law Nancy, her niece Karen, nephew Eric, stepchildren Valerie, Lani, and multiple step-grandchildren.
Per her request, no public services will be held. A private gathering of close family was recently held in memorandum.
Donations may be made in Linda Sell’s name to your local chapter of the SPCA.
Arrangements are with Reed & Benoit Funeral Home, Inc.
Online condolences in Linda’s memory may be made to www.reedbenoit.com.