Linda (Lodwig) Chenoweth, 81, of Edwards County, passed from this life to her heavenly home on October 13, 2024 at Reflections Memory Care Residence in Mt. Carmel, Illinois.
She was born on March 21, 1943 in Edwards County, Illinois to Leslie (Bud) Lodwig and Thelma (Seals) Lodwig. She graduated from Edwards County High School and attended the University of Illinois in Urbana. While earning her BS degree in Home Economics, she met and married Amos Chenoweth, an Engineering student at the university, on August 9, 1964. After graduation, she served as director of a Project Head Start preschool in Champaign, Illinois, one of the first integrated Head Start preschools. During their early years of marriage, Linda devoted her time to caring for their children, teaching preschool classes, and serving as a volunteer in their church. As their children grew, Linda felt a call to full-time ministry in the church. She returned to school and earned her Master of Divinity degree at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri in 1983. Following graduation, she was ordained as a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) on May 22, 1983. Her first ministry after ordination was as a chaplain to the Emergency Children’s Home in St. Louis, a home for battered and at-risk children. She then served as an interim ministry specialist in a number of churches in the state of Missouri. She also served as a called minister in Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) in Missouri, Nebraska, and Florida before retiring in 2006. In addition to serving local churches, she also served the larger church as a board member of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society.
Linda loved community and had a gift for hospitality. Wherever she lived she would find or help form communities of caring. She loved the holidays and any excuse to decorate, make special food, start a new “tradition” and entertain. She passed this tradition on to her children and grandchildren. Her love of the arts expressed itself in her home and in her passion for quilts and fabric. Linda was an avid reader and could always be found with a tote bag full of books of theology, history, quilting magazines and a crossword puzzle. She shared her love of books with her grandchildren and made sure their bookshelves were stocked with beautiful books representing diverse peoples and cultures. She delighted in her family and in the lives of her children and grandchildren.
She is survived by her husband, Amos and her two daughters, DeAnne (Joe Hinshaw) Chenoweth of Harrisonburg, VA, and Sarah (Clark) West of Wadsworth, Ohio along with five grandchildren: Bethany Hinshaw, Carolyn Hinshaw, Cecilia West, Anne West, and Amos West. She is also survived by several siblings – Janis Spath, Ed Lodwig, Nancy Roth, Barbara Northern, and Stephen Lodwig.
She is preceded in death by her parents, two siblings – Charles Lodwig and Mary Blackwood, and a son, John Chenoweth, who died as an infant.
Memorials may be made to: First Christian Church, 803 N. Market St., Mt. Carmel, Illinois 62863.
Visitation will be held from 10:00 am to 11:00 am on Friday, October 18 at Ingram Meridith Funeral Home in West Salem, Illinois. Interment to follow immediately afterward at the Moravian Cemetery in West Salem, Illinois. Celebration of Life Service will follow at 2:00 pm at First Christian Church in Mt. Carmel, Illinois with reception afterwards. Rev. Jim Bisch officiating.
Ingram Meridith Funeral Home of West Salem is honored to assist the family with arrangements.
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