Linda Kern Obituary

Linda Gail (Auldridge) Kern, 56, of McAlester, died Wednesday, May 28, 2008, at McAlester Regional Health Center.

Rosary will be at 7 p.m. Friday at Brumley-Mills Chapel.Mass of the resurrection will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. John’s Catholic Church with Father Leonard Higgins officiating. Burial will be at Westlawn Cemetery in Henryetta. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Brumley-Mills Funeral Home of McAlester.

Born May 31, 1951, in Henryetta, she was the daughter of Earl Allen and Doris Mae (Barnhill) Auldridge. She grew up in Henryetta and graduated from high school there in 1969. She then attended Draughan’s School of Business in Tulsa, completing their course of study in one year.

She married Mike Kern on Nov. 14, 1970, in Henryetta, and they lived in Stillwater while he was completing his degree. They moved to Ponca City in 1972 and then to Tulsa in 1973. In 1977 they moved to Tampa, Fla. until 1984, when they made their home in McAlester. She worked for a short time at the Dollar Saver Store then in 1988 went to work at The Bank, NA. She started as a teller and worked her way up to assistant vice-president, retiring in 2004.

She was a member of St. John’s Catholic Church and a former member of the McAlester Kiwanis Club.

She enjoyed her pets, her dogs and cats, and had a real passion for all animals, which showed in her devoted work with PAWS over the past number of years.

Survivors include her husband, Mike Kern, of the home; two daughters and sons-in-law, Amy and Steven Mitchell, Keller, Texas, and Tammy and Bryan Barnette, of Muskogee. Also, one sister and brother-in-law, and their children, Kathy and Kevin Ryan, Montgomery, Ala., and their children, Kristen, Katy and Kyle; special cousins, Kenny and Ginger Speer, Baton Rouge, La., and their children, Mathew and Sarah, and Kay Speer, Arvada, Colo. And, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Mark W. Kern and his wife, Sandy, Vicky Fegaly and her husband, Ron, Daniel “Duke” Kern and his wife, Cindy, Margie Collette, Sharon Sisson and her husband, Neal, Teresa Kern, Greg Kern and his wife, Lisa, Renee Kern, and John Kern.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

Pallbearers will be Kevin Ryan, Steven Mitchell, Bryan Barnette, Mark Kern, Greg Kern, and Kenny Speer. Honorary pallbearers will be Mathew Speer, Kyle Ryan, Duke Kern, Ron Fegaly, and Neal Sisson.

Memorials may be made to the local PAWS group.

Published in the McAlester News-Capital from 5/29/2008 - 5/30/2008.