Linda May Moss DiVall

Linda May Moss DiVall

March 11, 1950 - January 25, 2026

Linda May was born to Wardell Horman Moss (1913-2002) and Thelma Grover Moss (1913-1976) in Idaho Falls, Idaho on March 11, 1950. Her ancestors, pioneers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had settled in the area with the town of Rexburg and Ricks College named after her maternal third great grandfather, Thomas Edwin Ricks (1828-1901). She spent her entire childhood in Rexburg, ID, population 4000. This family heritage was something she was very proud of. It created a deep connection to this area over her lifetime. Linda had four older brothers, Robert Wardell (1938-2020), Kent Grover (1940-2018), Jerry Dale (1943-1943), and Stephen Grover (1947-1948), and two younger sisters Deneice and Shawna. She attended Rexburg Public Schools and graduated from Madison High School in 1968.

From 1968-1970 she attended Ricks College where she was active in the geology club. It was with this group that she was able to participate in a multi-day backpacking trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon as well as move a large 8-foot diameter lava boulder from the Saint Anthony's Sand Dunes onto the campus of Ricks College, where it remains today. Her love of geology grew with college summers spent at Grand Teton National Park working as a bookkeeper at Jackson Lake Lodge in Wyoming. She loved geology but chose a degree in elementary education instead so, if she did work after starting a family, she could be home during the summer with her children.

After earning her associate degree, she attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, UT rooming with her cousin and best friend, Shirley Moss Gneighting. Just before graduating she completed her student teaching in Sugar City, Idaho and taught under the supervision of one of her favorite people, aunt Verla Moss.

After graduation from BYU in 1972 she accepted a first-grade teaching position in the remote, high desert town of Arco, ID was the start of what would become a 30+ year teaching career, even with a break in the middle to raise her children. In Arco, she met another new teacher, Linda Clark Kellar, who became her roommate and lifelong friend, even starting a pre-kindergarten summer program together.

In December 1972, as a work assignment, Linda was selling tickets for an Arco High School basketball game when her co-worker introduced Linda to her husband's friend, navy sailor Michael Leroy DiVall. Mike was stationed in Arco attending nuclear power school at the Navy's nuclear mock submarine. Linda and Mike's first date was on December 16, 1972, attending a performance of the Messiah at Ricks College. Linda's mom was concerned with her dating a sailor. But Linda said, "it's not a big deal. He's gonna get shipped out soon anyway."

Soon finally came shortly after their marriage on June 14, 1974, in the Idaho Falls, Idaho LDS Temple and a navy move to San Francisco, California when Mike was shipped out during the Vietnam War. Instead of staying in San Francisco however, Linda moved back to Arco, ID to teach the fall semester, rooming again with her friend Linda Clark Kellar, but this time pregnant with her and Mike's first child. Linda moved back to California just before Beau Jean (1975) was born, and then in 1976, Wyatt Sean, often raising the boys alone while Mike was out to sea. She was pregnant with Dodge Hollister (1978), as Mike's six years of military service was completed and they moved to Oklahoma (1977).

In Oklahoma, Mike attended school full-time and worked. In 1980 Hayley Beth entered the family. Mike and Linda then moved to Wisconsin for the summer of 1982 where Marc Russell was born. Now with five kids, after eight years of marriage, they moved back to Oklahoma and Mike finished college. Homemade clothes, home haircuts, cloth diapers, and all home cooked meals, Linda did it all to support her family. During this time in Oklahoma, Linda answered an ad from a local department store. This shop had a large sewing section that included bolts of fabric and patterns for making clothes. As an independent contractor for the store, Linda would sew those patterns using their fabric which the store would then display on mannequins in the sewing section. This family of seven's car for many years was a 1972 Volkswagen Bug. With two bucket seats up front, Mike often drove while Linda, in the passenger seat, had Marc on her lap. The other four kids sat in the back; no seatbelts, no car seats as those were not required during this era.

In 1985 the family moved to North Richland Hills, Texas, and finally settled in Watauga, TX in 1986 where they bought their first home, living there for almost 40 years. Linda was a fine homemaker. She canned, cooked, gardened, and baked bread. However, she still found time to create art such as stained glass, tole painting, basket weaving, and quilting, most of which she would gift to others. Her crafts were not just passing of time, but rather expressions of an artist.

Once all her children were in school, Linda started teaching again. As a dedicated third grade teacher, and serving in Gifted and Talented programs, there were a lot of late hours spent decorating the classroom for the school year or changing holidays, always assisted by the DiVall children who would even help her with the grading of papers. She loved teaching and loved her students, referring to them as "my kids" and her family of five as "my children." At the age of 60, she received her master's degree showing others the importance of lifelong learning. Linda retired in 2017, but her influence as an educator was felt by hundreds of students and continuing as many of them became teachers themselves, staying in contact with her until the end of her life.

A faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Linda served in many callings throughout her life including on the Compassionate Service Committee in her care home until her death. She helped the Church grow in Dallas, Fort Worth as she actively served, consistently worried more about others than herself. When Mike and Linda moved to Watauga, the Church purchased property in Keller on Willis Lane, now the Keller Ward building. But for many years the property was a simple softball field of dirt, rocks, and weeds where the DiVall family would play church softball games. In their almost 40 years of living in Watauga, TX she and Mike were assigned to six different chapels. Linda was very proud of all her missionary children and grandchildren, often telling stories of their service to any who would listen.

Linda had many health challenges in her life including four back surgeries and two rounds of breast cancer. When Mike developed Alzheimer's Linda stood by his side and cared for him, the love of her life, moving straight from full time teacher into fulltime caregiver. They faced this difficult journey together with dignity, patience, and a shared sense of humor-occasionally debating who was more ornery and stubborn. Their love and partnership remained evident to all who knew them. In the spring of 2024, Linda and Mike moved to Mineola, TX to be near their daughter, Hayley. Their whole family then gathered to celebrate 50 years of marriage, just a few months before Mike's passing on June 13, 2024.

Family was very important to Linda so in the fall of 2024 she was determined to travel to see all her children in their homes, something she had not done in a long time. She spent time making memories with them and her 22 grandchildren. In 2025, on a trip to Utah, Linda became ill. She stayed in Utah just over six months receiving many visits from family and friends, even making new ones in her care home until her sudden passing from influenza on January 25, 2026, in American Fork, UT.

As a beloved sister, friend, teacher, Christian, wife, mother, and grandmother, Linda's legacy of quiet strength, generosity, and love for others will live on. She is survived by her two sisters, Shawna Nickell and Deneice Beecher, five children and their spouses Beau (Carrie) of Stansbury Park, UT; Wyatt (Carrie) of Humble, TX; Dodge (Sarah) of Fort Benton, MT; Hayley (David) Potts of Mineola, TX; and Marc (Leslie) of Pleasant Grove, UT, and 22 grandchildren each whom knew her as a source of warmth, encouragement and unconditional love.

A Celebration of Life will be hosted by her family on Friday July 17, 2026, at 4401 NE Loop 820, North Richland Hills, TX starting at 6:30pm. The family would love to hear stories and memories that you have of Linda during the short program. Linda will be laid to rest beside her beloved husband, Michael, in Texas before her celebration of life.