Colonel Linda A.
Van Vechten, USAF-RET
Colonel Linda A. Van Vechten, USAF-RET, resident of Sarasota, FL, passed away on September 2, 2022. Linda was born November 15, 1942 and spent her childhood in Nelliston, New York. She is a 1960 graduate of the Fort Plain High School, Fort Plain, New York and Albany Medical Center School of Nursing, Albany, New York.
After civilian nursing for seven years, she received a direct commission into the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps entering active duty as a First Lieutenant in 1972. She pursued her education and received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. in 1978 and a Master's Degree in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1983.
She served as an Intensive Care and Cardiac Care Unit staff nurse at MacDill AFB in Florida; in 1974 she was reassigned to the 57 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron as a Flight Nurse Instructor/Examiner at Scott AFB, Illinois, where she logged over 2,000 flying hours. From 1978 to 1981 she was assigned to the Wilford Hall Medical Center in positions ranging from Charge Nurse to Clinical Coordinator. In 1983 she was assigned to USAF Hospital, Hahn, Germany, where she was the Supervisor of the Outpatient Department. From 1985 to 1988, Colonel Van Vechten was Chief, Nursing Services at Lowry Clinic, Lowry AFB, Colorado. She returned to Scott AFB, Illinois in 1990 and was Assistant to the Command Nurse, HQ MAC. She was then assigned to Dover AFB, Dover, DE, where she assumed Command of the Objective Medical Group.
Her military decorations include the Air Force Commendation Metal with one oak leaf cluster; Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Air Force Training Ribbon; Air Force Overseas Long Tour Ribbon; National Defense Service Medal with one device; Legion of Merit; Air Force Longevity Service Award with 4 devices; Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with 5 devices; and Air Force Organization Excellence Award.
Linda is preceded in death by her father, Harold E. Van Vechten and mother, Lillian Lord Van Vechten and her niece, Sheri Lynn Van Vechten-Gray-Miller.
Surviving are her beloved brother, Wayne H. Van Vechten and his wife Jo-Ann Novak Van Vechten; (Sheri's daughters) great nieces Jessica Gray McCurley and her husband Danny McCurley, Samantha Miller and her fiancé Bryan Conaway and their daughter Isabella Conaway; niece Kimberly Van Vechten Fitzgerald and her children, Victoria Fitzgerald, Dylan Fitzgerald, Carson Fitzgerald, and Brooke Fitzgerald; as well as her cherished poodles Lance and Charity.
Colonel Van Vechten will be buried at Arlington Cemetery, Arlington, VA with a celebration of life after the proceedings (TBD). Donations can be given to the Lupus Research Alliance (https://give.lupusresearch.org.)