BATH – Linda Jane Moss Arnold, 81. passed away after a long course of dementia and illness at Winship Green Center for Health and Rehabilitation in Bath. She was predeceased by her parents, Samuel and Dorothy Moss and her husband of almost 50 years, Michael D. Arnold, a librarian.

Linda had a long career of professional excellence, first as a nurse in primarily psychiatric units and then, with a Master’s Degree, an even more stellar career as a motivational speaker and therapist.

She was born in New York City and retained her accent and elan throughout her life. The Winship Green social worker described her as a “firecracker” and someone who always spoke her mind. “You always knew where you stood with Linda.” So true. After working as a nurse in New York City, she and Michael sought a different experience and moved to San Francisco where they lived for 28 years. There, Linda earned a Master’s Degree in Psychology and started a practice as a therapist which blossomed into an additional practice of motivational speaking, primarily to nursing groups. She and Michael enjoyed all that San Francisco had to offer, but over the years, the city had changed and Michael, a Maine native, longed to be back on the East coast, in his true home and to be near family. So they moved away from the warmer climes to the varied seasons on Maine and settled in Brunswick. Linda maintained some of her therapy clients via the telephone, but motivational speaking dried up. Eventually, those few clients drifted away and she lived a more sedentary life with cats and dogs for company.

Michael busied himself with gardening and was a frequent participant on Brunswick’s Garden Tour. They continued to enjoy their new home until a broken hip derailed independent living for Linda. She was then an on and off resident at Bodwell then finally a permanent resident at Winship Green when her dementia took hold. As one friend put it she was lost to life while still living. She was blissfully unaware of what went on in the outside world or she would have had a great deal to say about what was happening in the news.

She is survived by a brother Allen Moss of Brunswick and sister-in-law Cynthia Arnold, also of Brunswick. Her spark will be missed.

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