Linda Marvin (Chase) Hastie died peacefully at home after a long progressive illness, on Sept. 10, 2021, at the age of 82, surrounded by family and friends who were with her through the latter part of her journey home to God.
Linda married the Rev. Cornelius (Neal) dewitt Hastie in 1981, and they built a life together in Jamaica Plain until his death in 2016.
Linda lived life courageously and with love. She was well-loved in return. She passed on to others her commitment to equality, fairness, and justice, with a moral compass always pointing toward wholeness and reconciliation for all. Linda was a woman of voice, and a beloved stepmother, grandmother, sister, aunt, wife, companion, widow, neighbor, and friend.
Linda provided for the people in her life through diligent prayer, fairly fabulous cooking and baking, and by opening her home to welcome countless international students and medical personnel studying or working for short terms in the Boston area, as well as her neighbors for a special annual Friday Thanksgiving Dinner.
Linda was born on May 23, 1939, the fourth daughter of Mildred (Chase) and Reinold Cole Marvin. She grew up and was educated in Ellenville, N.Y. In Linda’s youth and young adult years, church, reading, golf, and swimming occupied her free time. Childhood memories Linda treasured include summers spent at her family’s summer place, Buckhorn, on Lake Chateaugay in the Adirondacks, horseback riding, canoeing, and water-skiing, reconnecting with a community of friends and families year after year. When she was a teenager, Linda spent summers at New England Music Camp, where she excelled on the cello.
Linda graduated from Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Wheelock College in Boston, where she studied early childhood education. Linda taught in Wayland for five years, and then became assistant to the dean of students at Lesley College. Then she worked on marketing insurance seminars across the country, until she found what she really wanted to do: work with aging people. Her life work then became administration in the field of elderly housing.
She related well to all age groups, but she was a charmer to the older population. She loved working with aged folk. For many years she managed and then directed Morville House, a housing residence for independent seniors in Boston. After retiring from Morville House, she served as parish secretary at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for 10 years.
In retirement, Linda and Neal became avid travelers, cruising the world. Some highlights included visiting Russia, New Zealand, India, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Iceland, and Alaska. They also enjoyed many Augusts on the Vineyard with family and friends.
In her later years, knitting, prayer for others, crossword puzzles, and reading exercised her mind. She valued friendship, and held her spiritual family in high esteem. Linda was a seeker of truth, and a lifelong reader of theological texts. As an adult she worshipped at St. Augustine’s and St. Martin’s, where she was on the vestry. In 1990, she joined St. John and St. James in Roxbury, where her husband, the Rev. Neal Hastie, was rector and pastor. As his support and helpmate, using her education expertise, Linda grew the church school from two to 33 children over five years. Later she was a faithful participant in discussion of scripture at St. Paul’s, Brookline, until encroaching age and disability from chronic illnesses kept her more homebound, at which time her church family visited her.
Linda is survived by two loving stepsons, John Cornelius Hastie and George Henry Hastie; daughter-in-law Bettina Remacle Hastie; beloved grandson Caliban; and her sister, Carol Adams of Richmond, Vt. Caring nieces Jennifer Sprague and Nancy Adams and their families also survive her; as well as nephews Nick, Matt, and Mike Manzano and their families of California; and Carolyn and Diane Shinman of
Seattle, Wash. Linda was predeceased by twin sisters Katherine Manzano of San Francisco, Calif., and Mildred Shinman of Seattle, Wash.
A memorial celebration of Linda’s life will be held Saturday, October 30 at 11am at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church; it will be live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube. Use of facial coverings and social distancing will be maintained in the church. To share a memory or a note of condolence, please visit davisofboston.com, or send to the Hastie Family, 24 Castleton St., Boston, MA 02130.
Donations in Linda’s memory can be made to the Jessie Greene Memorial Fund, Attn: Linda Brown, Morville House, 100 Norway St., Boston, MA 02115; St. John and St. James Episcopal Church, 149 Roxbury St., Roxbury, MA 02119; or to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 15 St. Paul St, Brookline, MA 02446.
