Linda Jean Lopez Iglehart

1949 - 2026

 

Linda Iglehart passed this life on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 embraced by family and friends, her hand held by her daughter, with grace and courage.

Known to all as Lily, she was born in September 1949 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, followed by a childhood in Key Biscayne, Florida with her younger sister Joy, both children of their Havana-born father Joseph and their mother Ruth, originally of Virginia.  Later, while also under the care and watchful eye of her beloved stepfather, Baxter Everett, two children from other marriages, Jerry and Noreen, became part of Lily’s life as well.  By age 16, Lily’s interest in the arts blossomed, developing into her lifelong vocation.

She graduated from University of Florida in 1972 with a B.A. in Fine Arts, having pursued painting, photography, sculpture, and early multi-media.  Coming of age in the late 1960s brought with it new horizons she did not hesitate to seek.  She is remembered by many of that era as one of the “beautiful people”, meant at the time as “beautiful inside”, big-hearted and kind, the inner complement to her outward natural beauty, noted by young men ever in her pursuit.

By age 26, Lily traveled to New England, settling in Boston and making it her home, an undeterred Florida girl in the Yankee north now surrounded by similarly adventurous youth from the world over.  Her mission was, however, specific: relief from Type 1 diabetes, a diagnosis she had received just three years earlier.  The healing arts quickly became part of her daily living, demanding a care, skill, and attention unknown to most but which she extended to others, often feeding and guiding those who did not know their own way.  This she did without ever wondering why.

After years in the natural foods business, Lily married and gave birth to her only child, Jaime, in 1982.  Jaime’s name was inspired by the Hindi word “jai”, meaning “victory”, to Lily meaning victory over the odds against diabetic mothers having fully healthy children.  Hours after her daughter was born, attending doctors made a point of visiting to remark on the extraordinary health of the baby, something they had rarely, if ever, seen among their patient cohort.  They could not know that Lily’s rigor and discipline were the reason.  Victory.

In the years that followed, raising her child and ever a sociable host to many, the arts re-entered her life.  Lily became an accomplished oil and watercolor painter, exhibiting and selling her works in many local art fairs.  Her visits to friends and family often became an occasion to paint the scenery they lived in, gifts to them.  She focused her eye on interior design, earning a certificate in the profession from the Rhode Island School of Design, distinguished by her extraordinarily insightful thesis on the medieval origins, architecture, and furnishings of an emerging social custom called privacy.  She applied her instinct for design and her personal by-hand techniques on many projects which, like so much else, she often preferred others to enjoy as a gift, an expression of her appreciation of beauty.

Lily received much inspiration from her spiritual guide Prem Pal Singh Rawat, whose message of grace and peace enlivened her heart, the very place she lived.  Her innocence, loving hand, and care were plain to all, a light felt and beloved by many whose own lives she touched along the way.

An image of Lily is painted in words by Kahlil Gibran:

And what is it to work with love?

It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.

It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.

It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.

It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,

And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.

Lily is survived by her daughter, Jaime Iglehart Frasson of New York; her sisters Joy Lopez Marinelli of Georgia and Noreen Lopez of the United Kingdom; her nephew Anthony Marinelli and niece Jessica Burch, both of Georgia and their children; many other nieces and nephews; and her former husband Thomas Iglehart of Maryland.

Invitations to remembrance events will be sent directly to friends and family.

In lieu of flowers or other gifts, donations in Lily’s memory to the work of the Joslin Clinic may be made at the Beth Israel Lahey Health web site, by phone at (617) 278-7200, or by mail to Beth Israel Lahey Health, Joslin Diabetes Center, Office of Philanthropy, 529 Main Street, 4th Floor, Charlestown, MA 02129.