Obituary of Louanne L. Lind

Louanne L. "Nanie" Lind, 88, adored hosting a myriad of friends and family in her homes of Jamestown (Aldren and Englewood Avenues), Chautauqua (Cookman Avenue), and Amelia Island, FL until the moment she took the angels' hands at 9:29 PM on Sunday, November 5, 2023. The daughter of S. Hilding and Gladys Gustafson Larson, Lou was born in Jamestown, May 16, 1935. Music, life-long learning, family, friends, and community service punctuated every era of Lou's life. A 1953 JHS graduate, she went on to study at Eastman School of Music, graduating in 1957. Early in her marriage to Herbert W. "Skip" Lind, an older brother to her best friend, Carol Lind Kindberg, she was Waterfront Director at the Y Camp on Lake Chautauqua and held a Musical Kindergarten in their home on Royal Avenue. Lou influenced young adults as music instructor and choral director at JCC along with leading First Presbyterian Church through Music Ministry where she directed children, youth, adult, and bell choirs. Lou was a superb pianist and organist, sharing her gifts at the keyboard throughout her life. Lou traversed an ambitious path while her children were yet teenagers, studying for her Masters in Music Education from SUNY Fredonia which she received in 1977. During those years, she was a Music Teacher at Frewsburg Central School and then at Southwestern Central School for 15 years, directing endless concerts and musicals, as well as organizing school trips and CCMTA Music Festivals. Many a student's voice and personality blossomed through Lou's encouragement and confidence. Classical music coursed through every fiber of her being, in turn cascading onto and through her children, grandchildren, and hundreds of students. Skip and Lou were Chautauqua icons for 40 years on Cookman Avenue and at the Amphitheater. Keeping the cookie jars filled to the brim while patiently and graciously hosting her family with unmatched generosity, Lou could be seen ushering for Sunday Morning Worship, and serving on the boards of the Presbyterian House, the Chautauqua Golf Course and CLSC. 'Skip to my Lou' also enjoyed traveling abroad, visiting over 30 countries together, notably cherishing visits with relatives in Bornholm, Denmark. Her memberships at First Presbyterian Churches of Jamestown, NY and Fernandina Beach, FL gave Lou such joy and provided avenues for her to continue to serve through music and Bible studies. Skip and Lou's 20+ winters on Amelia Island were filled with church (Sunday worship as well as weekly events), outings with friends, community service, and frequent rounds of golf (including a hole in one for Lou). Lou (Nana to her family) touched untold lives, young and old, through her music, her teaching, her gourmet cooking (recreating almost any recipe simply by tasting a sample), her hospitality, and her unavoidable insistence on getting to know you through a barrage of leading questions about your life. Following a valiant fight to remain strong, still dressed to the nines with hair coiffed and make-up 'just-so', Lou leaves behind her husband of 68 years, whom she married August 20, 1955; her daughter Cindy Lind (R. Mark) Hanson of Jamestown, and her son, Todd N. Lind of Florida; her three grandchildren, M. Tyler (Molly) Hanson of Sun Valley, ID, H. Bryce (Jessica) Hanson of Rouses Point, NY, and Kirstie Lind (Wil Lockwood) Hanson of Jamestown; two great grandsons, Karson R. and Hayden T. Hanson, both of Rouses Point; and a brother David B. (Susanne) Larson of Jamestown, as well as a tribe of beloved nieces and nephews and their families. As Lou's family, there is no way to fully express our deep and abiding gratitude to our "family" of caregivers who have been by Skip and Lou's side each and every day: Crisinda, Keerstin, MaryJo, Natasha, Mindy, Lindsey, Kaitlyn, Tammie, Jammie, and Christine, as well as Terri Lynn, Patty, Adam, Josh, and Jessica. We are profoundly blessed by this band of angels in keeping Skip and Lou both together and at home. The funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, November 11, in First Presbyterian Church. Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman and Reverend Wendy Heinz will officiate. Friends will be received at Lind's from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday. Burial will be in Lake View Cemetery. The church service will be livestreamed and can be accessed on the funeral home's website, www.lindfuneralhome.com, where viewers will be routed to the funeral home's Facebook page. Those who wish to watch need not have a Facebook account. You may also share a memory or leave a condolence on the funeral home's website. Gifts in honor and remembrance of Lou may be made to any charity which encourages faith, learning, or music.