Mrs. Linda Kay Yost Conroy

Linda Kay Conroy was born on November 17, 1949 in South Charleston, WV to Kenneth Edgar Yost and Swaneda Kelly Yost. Linda is the oldest of four children. She is twin to Karen Lynn Yost and they have two brothers, David Kelly Yost who lives in Fort Myers, FL and Daniel Lee Yost of Charlotte, NC. Daniel is married to Lisa and they have 2 children, Geoffrey and Katie. When Linda and Karen were six months old the family moved to Berkley Springs, WV which was Kenneth's birthplace and Linda lived there until she went to college. Linda and Karen both attended Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, WV and Linda graduated in 1973 with a BA in Elementary Education. Shortly after college Linda took a patronage job in Washington, DC and worked as a postal worker in the US Senate Post Office. She delivered the daily mail to the incumbent US Senators. Beginning in early childhood Linda had serious challenges with her vision and in order to efficiently deliver the mail she memorized all the Senators names and their office locations. Linda worked in Washington until 1978 and then moved to Los Angeles County, California where she took a job working for the Foundation of the Junior Blind, a rehabilitation facility that specialized in working with multi-handicapped patients. The Foundation of the Junior Blind was well known for its accomplishments in making quality life improvements in the lives of the multi-handicapped. Linda's boss at the Foundation, Norm Kaplan, played a cameo role as himself in a Hollywood movie called ‘Mask’ because the real life boy whose story was depicted in that movie was rehabilitated at the Foundation. Linda worked predominantly with blind children who had other physical challenges as well and recalled working with one young girl for over a year before the girl could write her own name. That accomplishment was overwhelming in the face of the odds the child faced and Linda became known at the Foundation for her extreme love and patience. She also became proficient in American Sign Language during this time and in her teaching incorporated sign language along with some of the same methods Annie Sullivan used to educate Helen Keller. With great perseverance Linda helped several of her multi-handicapped students become more independent. Linda worked at the Foundation for two years and from there was offered a job at the Salvation Army Day Care in Torrance, CA working with Alzheimer's patients where she worked for seven years. It was at the Salvation Army that Linda met her soon- to-be husband, George Conroy. George came to the facility to discuss enrolling his mother into the Alzheimer program and he and Linda began a relationship from that very first conversation. They were married six months later on June 25, 1988. At their wedding, George and Linda were ordained into the ministry of missions. Linda preached her first sermon on May 6, 1989 at the Salvation Army in Torrance, California. In July 1989 George and Linda felt the Lord calling them to missions in Mexico and they moved from California to Chalma, Mexico. George's daughter Tracey lived with them for five years and Linda used her Bachelor's Degree to homeschool Tracey and cherished being a significant part of Tracey’s early education. Chalma was an extremely impoverished area of Mexico and sanitation there was very poor. Linda battled sickness in Chalma to such a degree that she was pronounced dead twice. Miraculously the Lord raised her up each time and Linda became stronger in her faith and in her witness and she and George became more and more determined to preach the gospel to the poor. In their third year in Chalma Linda was involved in a hit and run auto accident and was pronounced dead at the scene. The paramedic who responded to the call was a man named Rene. George and Linda had lead Rene to the Lord 1 ½ years earlier and he began praying with George that Linda would be raised up from the dead and Linda began to breathe, but was in and out of consciousness. Instead of taking Linda to the nearest hospital, Rene drove her and George to Toluca, Mexico, knowing that she had the best chance of survival at that facility. Once admitted in the hospital in Toluca, George stayed with Linda continually and prayed with great faith that God would restore her to health. God answered George’s prayers and once again Linda became a walking miracle. She was discharged from the hospital seven days later. In order to get the medical attention Linda needed following the accident, she and George moved to Toluca, Mexico where they continued to live for an additional 6 1/2 years. Once Linda recovered they began serving as missionaries once again. During those years in Toluca the Lord began using Linda in the healing ministry and that awakened in her a life-long love of praying for the sick. She and George saw many miracles in Mexico and Linda became a woman of great faith as she watched God move time and time again on their behalf and in the lives of many of the Mexican people they served. Linda became fluent in Spanish and developed many loving relationships with those families that she and George ministered to in Mexico. In 1998 George and Linda returned to the States permanently and settled in Mount Dora, Florida. In October of that year both George and Linda received a duel ordination under the covering Bishop Larry Stutzman and International Fellowship of Christian Ministries. Linda held multiple jobs in Lake County including working several years for Winn Dixie in Tavares, and also at Dollar General Store and the Financial Freedom Center in Eustis. Linda’s first love was always ministry, especially to those that were hurting and ill. George and Linda were active members of Solid Rock Worship Center in Mount Dora, from 1998 until 2012 when they joined First Assembly of God of Eustis, FL. George received his promotion to heaven on March 16, 2013 and Linda yearned to join him in rejoicing before the Throne of God. She met him there on the evening of September 30, 2013. In lieu of flowers the family graciously requests donations be made to help with the final expenses.

Mrs. Linda Kay Yost Conroy

November 17, 1949 - September 30, 2013