Linda (Rouch) Galyon (1933-2019)

GALYON, ROUCH, DRAPER

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 5/17/2021 at 16:53:11

Obituary From Adams Soderstrum Funeral Home, Story County, Iowa.

Linda Rouch Galyon, 86, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, at Green Hills Retirement Center in Ames. She will be greatly missed. We are very grateful for the kind care and attention she received from the staff and friends at Green Hills during the past seven years.

Linda was the daughter of Jane (Draper) and Marvin Rouch of Kokomo, Indiana. She was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on April 29, 1933. As a child, she lived in Little Rock, AR; Memphis, TN; and then graduated from high school in Kokomo, Indiana. After first attending Monmouth College in Illinois, she graduated from the University of Indiana in 1956 with an A.B. in English. She obtained a Master's degree from the University of Indiana in 1962. In 1958, while working on her Master's degree and as an instructor at Indiana University, she met her future husband, Aubrey E. Galyon, Jr., whose office was across the hall. They were married on August 16, 1958, in Kokomo, Indiana. In 1959, Linda and Aubrey moved to Ames where they would both take positions as instructors at Iowa State University. In 1974 Linda received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa. She went on to become an Assistant Professor and then an Associate Professor of English at Iowa State University, teaching there until her retirement in 1998. Linda's scholastic work and teaching concentrated on the works of William Shakespeare, Edward Spencer and other literature of the English Renaissance.
Linda was instrumental in forming the Women’s Studies Program at Iowa State University, which began in 1977, and was the program's second chair, serving from 1980-84, and again from 1994-97. She also served on many committees at Iowa State University, including: African American Studies Steering Committee, Dean's Cabinet, ISU Faculty Senate, LAS Curriculum Committee, and the University Committee on Women. In 1996 she received the Carrie Chapman Catt Award for Outstanding Contributions to Sex Equity.

Throughout her life she was a lover of literature, art, music, opera, and ballet. Linda helped organize the Shakespeare Symposium at Iowa State University, and was active in the Story County Democratic Party. She was a lifelong champion of progressive values and fought for equal rights and access for women, minorities, and other marginalized people. She continued her love of knowledge and reading till her last days, continuing to read The Nation, The Progressive Populist, and The New York Times. Linda and her late husband, Aubrey, traveled extensively in Europe until his death in 1990. She continued to travel both here and abroad, seeking out new lands and experiences, traveling to England, France, Greece, Italy, Scotland, and Spain. She was an extraordinary cook, and consummate entertainer and hostess, hosting numerous dinner and cocktail parties, large and small, throughout her life in Ames.

Linda was preceded in death by her husband Aubrey, and by her parents, Jane and Marvin Rouch. She is survived by her son, Alex (Jane) of Ames, and three grandchildren: Andrew (Minneapolis, MN); Zach (Seattle, WA) and Olivia (Iowa City, IA). Arrangements are under the care of Adams Funeral Home of Ames. Online condolences can be left for Linda's family at www.adamssoderstrum.com.

A celebration of life memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 27, 2019, at 3 p.m., at St. John's Episcopal Church, Ames. There will be a private burial next to her husband Aubrey at the Iowa State University Cemetery prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Linda's name may be directed to the Linda Galyon Memorial Fund, Iowa State University Foundation, 2505 University Boulevard, Ames, IA 50010.

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