Linda Leonard

Linda Leonard, 83, of Big Spring, passed away Saturday, March 15, 2025. Memorial Service will take place at 3:00 p.m. Thursday, March 20, 2025, at the Nalley-Pickle & Welch Rosewood Chapel.  

She was born December 28, 1941, in Wichita Falls, Texas to parents Ben and LaFon Langford. 

Linda is survived by her loving husband, Jim Leonard; daughter Christy Cole and husband Vance; grandchildren Ethan Cole and Mason Cole; two nieces, other relatives, and many friends.   

She was preceded in death by her parents and brother Ben Langford.  

Linda Leonard lived a life full of adventure, laughter, and just the right amount of rebellion. She grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas, where she lost both parents at a young age but was raised by loving Christian relatives. As a child, she was obsessed with horses—reading every book the library had and praying for the day she’d have a horse of her own. She studied classical piano for eight years, but at 13, she discovered Elvis Presley and decided rock ‘n’ roll was way more exciting than Beethoven. 

Her senior year of high school took her to Indiana, where she lived with a cousin and graduated in 1960. College at Texas Tech brought her back to West Texas, where she found her crowd in the rodeo club. However, Linda thought school was boring, and she quickly decided the sorority scene wasn’t for her. After getting caught breaking curfew one too many times, she figured college life wasn’t her thing and set off for the real world. 

At 19, Linda moved to Odessa to be near her older brother and his family. It was there that she met her first husband, Jerry “Curly” Moore. After four years of dating, they married in 1964 and welcomed daughter Christy in 1967. Life was never boring during this time. There were a series of adventures that took Linda from Odessa to Louisiana to Big Spring, and to Midland. It was in Midland that Linda finally got her horses. Those horses then took Linda and her family to El Paso and Ruidoso to train and race horses. In 1976, the family ended up back in Odessa. That is when Linda found her love of real estate and became a licensed real estate agent. Never staying put too long, Linda and her family found themselves moving overseas for Jerry’s job. They lived on the island of Malta, just south of Italy, and eventually Majorca, Spain. In 1980, Linda and Christy moved back to Big Spring where she lived out the rest of her life.  

After several years of enjoying the single life, Linda met Jim, the man who would become her partner in crime for the next 37 years. They married in 1988 and built a life full of love, laughter, and a little bit of chaos. In 1991, Linda joined Home Realtors and spent the next few decades helping others find their dream homes. But she wasn’t content to just sell houses. Jim and Linda bought 54 acres and opened Desert Hills Home Park, running it together for 30 years. Linda often said she could write a book about the wild adventures of managing a mobile home park (and if you knew Linda, you knew that book would’ve been a bestseller). 

Linda always said that she thought life was a series of adventures and a matter of choices along the way. She said there are two morals to life: #1 The road to hell is paved with good intentions. #2 Be careful what you pray for, you may get it. 

Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home and Crematory.  Online condolences can be made at www.npwelch.com 

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