Linda Lee McClain

Linda Lee McClain of Lake St.Louis MO, lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on April 26, 2025 peacefully in the privacy of her home with her loving husband John by her side. A beloved wife, mother, and devoted grandmother and great grandmother, Gram, Grammy, Linda, Linda Lee, or Sweetheart as John would say, will always be remembered for her love of travel, sharing that love for travel with her family, her big bouncy blonde hair and obsession with Original Chap Stick.

Born on February 27, 1951 to Angie and James Sammarco. Linda, who was born in Milwaukee Wisconsin was the oldest of seven siblings, two brothers, Greg and Jim and four sisters, Jamie, Carla, Leslie and Stephanie. As a child Linda played the violin in the school orchestra all the way through 12th grade. During her time playing she achieved the highest level available to her and became “first chair”, an achievement she was extremely proud of. The interest in music is what would later spark a love for Broadway Musicals. Linda shared her love for Broadway with her husband and granddaughter Krysta. She would attend shows regularly and saw a variety of shows including Stomp and River Dance to Starlight Express and Evita. The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables were two of Linda’s favorite shows, and she was sure to always attend these two productions when ever possible.

Linda found the love of her life in the year 1973 and her and John were married September 18,1982. The two shared an unbreakable, unwavering love and life together that lasted over 50 years. This adventure filled life included their son Jay (Taumara), two grandchildren Kyle McClain and Krysta Krueger (Andrew), and three great-grand-daughters River, Arya, and Finnley. Linda’s deep love for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren was unconditional and never ending.

Linda’s love for travel sparked a new career for her. In the mid 90's, Linda became a travel agent. This new career gave way for exciting new trips around the world; covering six of the seven continents. She had the privilege of seeing and enjoying parts of the world many will only see in picture books or online. They traveled to unforgettable places including Egypt seeing the Great Pyramids, China walking on the Great Wall, Australia and the Sydney Opera House. Together Linda and John’s vacations also included all the tropical islands you could think of including Aruba, Tahiti, Curaçao, all the Virgin and Caribbean Islands and Hawaii. Traveling the world together led them to England, France, Germany, Holland, Taiwan, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and many more destinations.

Linda had a few hobbies and some of them included collecting statues and art work of dragons, beanie baby bears, and bells from her travels. She was able to include her other hobby playing slot machines to her travels as well. Casino slot machines not only brought excitement and fun to her but they took her to Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Atlantic City. Her love for the sound of bells and the flashing lights of the casino also brought private jets, fine dining, cruise ship vacations, and actually a lot of family time. The “little green men” brought her more than the thrill of winning, they brought her closer to her family.

Another of Linda’s passions in life was animals, not just dogs and cats but all animals in general. To honor Linda’s kindness towards animals, donations can be made to Pals Animal Rescue. Pals is a no kill animal shelter from where she adopted her beloved cat Lexie. Donations could also be made to the American Cancer Society.

American Cancer Society or PALS Animal Shelter.