Linda Anne Soltis Perkins, devoted educator, public servant and deeply-rooted member of the Norfolk community, passed away on Feb. 28, 2026, at the age of 79.

Born on Dec. 17, 1946, in Philadelphia, Linda’s bond with Norfolk began in her earliest years. As a young child she spent treasured summers here visiting her aunt and uncle, and her cousin, the late Dottie Satherlie. Those visits introduced her to the town that she just knew, even then, would become her lifelong home.

After graduating from Franklin College in Indiana, Linda moved straight to Norfolk in the summer of 1968, serving as a dorm parent at the Laurel School before securing a teaching position at Canton Elementary School. That year, she met and would go on to marry a local man. In 1972 they purchased the house on Mountain Road, the home Linda always spoke of with a sense of wonder, as though it had been placed into her life by grace rather than chance. She never lost that feeling. To her, it was a true blessing: a place of beauty, steadiness, belonging and quiet refuge.

Linda’s professional life was marked by dedication and adaptability. She taught in the Canton school system, worked for over a decade as a legal secretary and then as a travel agent. In her final career she served as Norfolk town clerk for 14 years—a position she viewed as a public trust. She carried out her duties with care and precision, mindful that the records she kept and the guidance she offered were part of the town’s living history.

At heart, Linda remained a teacher. She possessed a gift for guiding others, sharing knowledge, offering encouragement and a hug or simply connecting people. Her commitment to Norfolk was expressed through action and care. When the idea of a local road race was first imagined, Linda’s persistence and steady organization, centered around her dining room table, brought volunteers together and set the effort in motion. She even introduced the young local artist Nina Ritsen to the race committee, beginning a partnership that yielded more than 20 years of distinctive and original artwork for T-shirts and posters.

When the Laurel School closed, Linda was instrumental in ensuring its spirit of generosity and service endured through the Norfolk Connecticut Children’s Foundation. She understood tradition as a living thread, binding people to one another, to place and to the past. Whether through her long-standing commitment to the Norfolk Historical Society and Museum, including the creation of a Christmas ornament inspired by the Battell fountain, or her thoughtful reminders of the meaning behind the Memorial Day parade and ceremony, she worked to preserve the town’s shared memory and purpose.

An avid gardener, Linda could often be glimpsed in the fading summer light as she tended the peony beds along the driveway or the Hosta beds along the banks of the brook in front of her house, digging with care among the leaves, shaping and nurturing the landscape she loved so deeply. Linda moved through life with warmth, purpose and an abiding sense of humor, devoted to her family, her home and the town she held dear. She will be deeply missed, but her presence endures, in the traditions she cherished, the connections she sparked and the countless ways, both large and small, that she made Norfolk feel like home for so many.

She is predeceased by her parents, Anne Elizabeth Swindell Soltis and George Soltis, who are buried in Norfolk Center Cemetery, and by her brother and sister-in-law, George and Margaret Soltis. She is survived by her daughters, Barbara J. Perkins of Norfolk and Heather Brooke Perkins of New York, NY; her niece, Alyssa Sachs; and her two beloved grandsons, Jonas and Benjamin Perkins.

A town wide “Garden Party” celebration will be held at the Perkins home this summer at a date to be announced. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Norfolk Connecticut Children’s Foundation or the Norfolk Historical Society.