Linda Decker Vaughan

The "Blessing Lady" has gone on to her Greatest Blessing of All! Heaven! Linda Decker Vaughan, born July 1, 1942, passed away at the age of 79 Friday afternoon September 17th at the Hospice of Cincinnati surrounded by family and friends. Prayers and crying, singing and laughing topped off by a big group meal. She would have loved it.

For more than a decade she posted a personal blessing almost every day on her Facebook page. Simple math says that was way more than 30,000 blessings. Some were beautiful, some were childlike, many were deeply personal, some were poignant, and some were downright corny. But all were heart-felt and posted with love. Her willingness to open herself up to finding a blessing in the most horrific personal and health crises as well as her successes great and small helped many people to find joy and hope in their own lives.

Loving is the one word most people who knew her would use to describe Linda. To her you were not just an acquaintance, you were a person who had feelings and value. Many of the comments on her Facebook page related how Linda had impacted their lives with a smile, a hug or word of encouragement when they needed it most. Her husband, Charlie, was blessed to be on the receiving end for 59 years of marriage. On Facebook, she often referred to him as "His Majesty". At first, he was embarrassed; then he decided it was because she was his "Queen" – she truly was.

Linda was a graduate of Walnut Hills High School and the University of Cincinnati with a Masters in Speech and Language. She worked as an SLP at the Special Center for Learning, a K-12 school for children with severe behavior handicaps, which she believed derived in part from a lack of communication skills. So, she developed a complete program of social skills and communication training that effectively changed many children's lives.

She is survived by her devoted husband, Charles Duffey Vaughan, and her two grown sons, Duffey (Kimberly), and Christopher (Lisa) and, three awesome granddaughters Shelby, Britta and Tate. She is also survived by her brother, David Decker (Pat), his son Todd and granddaughter, Madison, and huge number of loving cousins, nieces and nephews in the Decker family.

Linda lived a life full of blessings. True love in her marriage, devoted family and friends, her sewing and many other crafts, her music, her church, her fulfilling job, her unshakeable faith in God. She lived her life the way she wanted. That, as Linda would always say, was a Blessing!

The family is not going to have a funeral right now; Linda already got to Heaven without it. Instead, they will have a big Celebration at Dayspring Church in Cincinnati, when it is more COVID safe.

https://www.cincinnati.com/obituaries/cen204949