Obituary of Lindy Hamblin

Lindy Hamblin 1948-2019

 

On Saturday, July 27th, 2019 Lindy Louise Hamblin, beloved wife, devoted mother of four and grandmother of six, passed away the day after her 71st birthday in Tampa, Florida. Lindy was born on July 26th, 1948 to Norman and Louise Augusburger in Lafayette, Indiana. At five years of age, her family relocated to Muskogee, Oklahoma where her formative years were spent riding horses, fishing with her little brother, Dan, and day-dreaming of visiting France. After graduating from Muskogee High School in 1966, she realized her dream of visiting France for the first time as a foreign exchange student. Lindy went on to attend Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri where she studied Fine Arts. Her time at college laid many of the foundations for her extraordinary life. It was here that her creative and artistic skills would begin to flourish, where her passion for French and foreign culture would come to fruition, and where she would meet the love of her life who would accompany her on so many adventures to come. Lindy graduated from Stephens College in 1970 and on April 24th, 1971 she married her college sweetheart, Steve Hamblin, a smart young man who had attended neighboring University of Missouri.

 

Throughout the 1970s Lindy and Steve spent seven years in Europe, living and working as expats in France and Italy. During this time Lindy gave birth to a son, Chase, and a daughter, Alexa. Back stateside in the ‘80s, the couple welcomed another son, Morgan, and another daughter, Amanda. In the mid ’80s the whole family moved to Singapore, where they would spend six years. Eventually returning to Texas, Lindy lived for many years in Austin and Houston, while spending summers, and often longer, at her beloved beach house in St. Pete Beach, Florida.

 

Lindy had a passion for travel and a great appreciation for foreign language and culture.  She had an adventurous spirit and was always enthusiastic about visiting or moving to a new place, even with four young children. Throughout her life, she and Steve called 17 different places home. Her travels took her throughout Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, North, South and Central America, the Carribbean, and Africa. She had such a keen ear for languages that she would often pick up and unconsciously imitate an accent even within a few days. While she spent time in all kinds of climates, there can be no doubt that being on a beautiful beach was her happy place.

 

There was nothing more important to Lindy than family. She established innumerable family traditions, many of which were culled from her experiences around the world. These could take the form of particular meals, games, activities, movies, or inside jokes that established a shared bond with her family. She passionately documented the activities of her family through the years in photographs, compiling volumes of photo albums into a life history. Her style of decorating a home was famous. From blue-and-white pottery upside down on the kitchen ceiling, to designing her bedroom to look like a medieval castle, to flowers in her garden so lovely that they looked (and indeed were) fake, her main style rule was that there were no rules. She seamlessly mixed elements from the Southern U.S. with Asian, African, and Renaissance European styles for an eclectic and fun atmosphere that was all her own. Nobody did holidays better than Lindy. She was constantly coming up with new themes for the holidays, creating unique scenery like a Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling, trying new recipes, and  making her own decorations.

 

Lindy was an unstoppable creative force. Whether it was writing hilarious and detailed Christmas letters, turning a cast-off object into furniture, illustrating magazine covers and greeting cards, hand-crafting elaborate works of art from glass, crocheting, making and selling cigar box purses, creating Native American shadow boxes, or decorating cookies, she loved to see her vision come to life. And it had to be perfect. There was never much room for compromise when it came to what she saw in her “Type A” mind. This creativity and determination also shone through in the kitchen. Lindy’s nickname was “Cookie” and she was a fantastic cook and baker, whose hand-written recipes consisted of hundreds of dishes from all over the world. She loved exploring new cuisines, and husband Steve always said Lindy could remember any meal she ever ate.

 

            Lindy had an uncanny way of making anyone she ever met feel welcome. She was well-known for loving to talk to anyone, including complete strangers, and making them feel like the most important person in the room. She always enjoyed sharing a laugh with her friends and family or even the person in the check-out line behind her. Her warm demeanor, buoyant personality, and welcoming smile were so attractive that she made countless friends all across the world, and these traits served her well -- whether as a model, TWA stewardess, dental assistant, cookie decorator, event planner, charity organizer, or hostess with the mostest. 

 

            A true one-of-a-kind, Lindy brightened every room she walked into. She was a shining example of what it means to spread kindness, love, patience and joy to those around her. She is gone from this Earth, but her light is not. It is reflected in those of us who love her, as we pick up the torch and share some of her spark and warmth through our own lives. In this way, she will shine eternally.

 

            Lindy is survived by her husband, Steve Hamblin, her brother, Dan Augsburger, her children Chase Hamblin, Alexa Fritts, Morgan Hamblin, and Amanda Slaughter, and by her grandchildren Avery and Amelia Slaughter, Ava and Alayna Fritts, and Nolan and Corinne Hamblin.

 

 

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