Memphis musician, entertainer, wife and mother, Linda Yancy
Memphis musician Linda Yancy passed away Aug. 2, 2016, in Athens, Ala. She was 57.
Linda grew up in the orange groves of Florida and lived on three continents. While raising her children, she lived in the tropics of Panama and on the shores of England.
While in Panama, she won the Angel Pin, a congressional award for volunteer service, for organizing a base-wide event for soldiers awaiting the U.S. invasion of Panama.
She had a big heart for the community wherever she lived. She organized many community events, including the building of the unofficial world’s largest tomato sandwich of more than 160 feet. Before coming to Memphis in 2009, Linda owned the Songbird Bistro, a restaurant and music venue, in Ripley, Tenn. She cooked the meals and then took off her apron to open the show.
To watch Linda on stage with her husband, Cecil, was to be “hurled into their dream world of love,” as one writer described the duo.
On stage, the two rarely took their eyes off each other. They blended their strong voices in close harmony, with timing that made their duo seem more like a solo act. Their performances featured stories about their original songs and personal glimpses into their 16-year married life together.
“I fell in love for the first time in a second marriage, and our music is a reflection of that love,” Linda recalled on stage.
The couple’s musical story began after meeting on the Internet in the late 1990s. At their first date on the banks of the Tennessee River in north Alabama, Linda brought her guitar and they sang all night long. “We’ve been singing all night long ever since,” Linda often told audiences.
Linda taught herself guitar and started writing songs as a teenager.
She wrote in the gospel and folk genres and even sang on a rap record.
In the Memphis music world, she served as event’s coordinator of the Memphis Songwriters Association (MSA), performed in churches, at farmer’s markets and venues including the Levitt Shell, the Hard Rock Cafe, Center for Southern Folklore, Dixon Gardens and the Shelby Forest General Store. As part of the MSA, she booked a River Arts Festival stage. She was known for her encouragement and love of Memphis musicians and opening her east Memphis home to friends and hosting house concerts for worthy causes.
After being diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in March 2015, Linda began treatment at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. In between treatments, Linda performed with her husband, often playing assisted-living homes as well as hospitals and Alzheimer’s units as part of the Memphis-based agency Creative Aging. “I don’t want to ‘waste my cancer,’” she said. Singing with her husband and for her friends and her faith in God was a continuing source of joy right until the end.
She was preceded in death by her father, John Alvin Deffenbaugh.
She is survived by her husband and music partner, Cecil Yancy; mother, Juanita Deffenbaugh of Danville, Ala.; daughter, Te Ata Headley and husband, Everett, of Montana; daughter, Tamara Graves and husband, Joseph, and granddaughter, Abigail, of Athens, Ala..; son, Joshua Canup and wife, Shanice, of Virginia; step-daughter, Sarah Yancy of Alabama; sister, Sheree’ Brown and husband, Buzz, of Decatur, Ala.; two brothers, Barry Deffenbaugh and wife, Brenda, of Danville, Ala.; Marty Deffenbaugh and wife, Joanne, of Maryland; nieces and nephews; and many friends.
Burial will be in Elmwood Cemetery. Memorial service will be held Saturday, Aug. 6, at 3 p.m., at 412 Tutwiler Ave., Memphis, TN.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Visible Music College, 200 Madison Ave., Memphis, TN 38103, www.visible.edu, and to Memphis musicians facing health crises.
Information provided by Spry Funeral Home, Huntsville, AL
Memphis musician Linda Yancy passed away Aug. 2, 2016, in Athens, Ala. She was 57.
Linda grew up in the orange groves of Florida and lived on three continents. While raising her children, she lived in the tropics of Panama and on the shores of England.
While in Panama, she won the Angel Pin, a congressional award for volunteer service, for organizing a base-wide event for soldiers awaiting the U.S. invasion of Panama.
She had a big heart for the community wherever she lived. She organized many community events, including the building of the unofficial world’s largest tomato sandwich of more than 160 feet. Before coming to Memphis in 2009, Linda owned the Songbird Bistro, a restaurant and music venue, in Ripley, Tenn. She cooked the meals and then took off her apron to open the show.
To watch Linda on stage with her husband, Cecil, was to be “hurled into their dream world of love,” as one writer described the duo.
On stage, the two rarely took their eyes off each other. They blended their strong voices in close harmony, with timing that made their duo seem more like a solo act. Their performances featured stories about their original songs and personal glimpses into their 16-year married life together.
“I fell in love for the first time in a second marriage, and our music is a reflection of that love,” Linda recalled on stage.
The couple’s musical story began after meeting on the Internet in the late 1990s. At their first date on the banks of the Tennessee River in north Alabama, Linda brought her guitar and they sang all night long. “We’ve been singing all night long ever since,” Linda often told audiences.
Linda taught herself guitar and started writing songs as a teenager.
She wrote in the gospel and folk genres and even sang on a rap record.
In the Memphis music world, she served as event’s coordinator of the Memphis Songwriters Association (MSA), performed in churches, at farmer’s markets and venues including the Levitt Shell, the Hard Rock Cafe, Center for Southern Folklore, Dixon Gardens and the Shelby Forest General Store. As part of the MSA, she booked a River Arts Festival stage. She was known for her encouragement and love of Memphis musicians and opening her east Memphis home to friends and hosting house concerts for worthy causes.
After being diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in March 2015, Linda began treatment at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. In between treatments, Linda performed with her husband, often playing assisted-living homes as well as hospitals and Alzheimer’s units as part of the Memphis-based agency Creative Aging. “I don’t want to ‘waste my cancer,’” she said. Singing with her husband and for her friends and her faith in God was a continuing source of joy right until the end.
She was preceded in death by her father, John Alvin Deffenbaugh.
She is survived by her husband and music partner, Cecil Yancy; mother, Juanita Deffenbaugh of Danville, Ala.; daughter, Te Ata Headley and husband, Everett, of Montana; daughter, Tamara Graves and husband, Joseph, and granddaughter, Abigail, of Athens, Ala..; son, Joshua Canup and wife, Shanice, of Virginia; step-daughter, Sarah Yancy of Alabama; sister, Sheree’ Brown and husband, Buzz, of Decatur, Ala.; two brothers, Barry Deffenbaugh and wife, Brenda, of Danville, Ala.; Marty Deffenbaugh and wife, Joanne, of Maryland; nieces and nephews; and many friends.
Burial will be in Elmwood Cemetery. Memorial service will be held Saturday, Aug. 6, at 3 p.m., at 412 Tutwiler Ave., Memphis, TN.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Visible Music College, 200 Madison Ave., Memphis, TN 38103, www.visible.edu, and to Memphis musicians facing health crises.
Information provided by Spry Funeral Home, Huntsville, AL
Memphis musician, entertainer, wife and mother, Linda Yancy
Memphis musician Linda Yancy passed away Aug. 2, 2016, in Athens, Ala. She was 57.
Linda grew up in the orange groves of Florida and lived on three continents. While raising her children, she lived in the tropics of Panama and on the shores of England.
While in Panama, she won the Angel Pin, a congressional award for volunteer service, for organizing a base-wide event for soldiers awaiting the U.S. invasion of Panama.
She had a big heart for the community wherever she lived. She organized many community events, including the building of the unofficial world’s largest tomato sandwich of more than 160 feet. Before coming to Memphis in 2009, Linda owned the Songbird Bistro, a restaurant and music venue, in Ripley, Tenn. She cooked the meals and then took off her apron to open the show.
To watch Linda on stage with her husband, Cecil, was to be “hurled into their dream world of love,” as one writer described the duo.
On stage, the two rarely took their eyes off each other. They blended their strong voices in close harmony, with timing that made their duo seem more like a solo act. Their performances featured stories about their original songs and personal glimpses into their 16-year married life together.
“I fell in love for the first time in a second marriage, and our music is a reflection of that love,” Linda recalled on stage.
The couple’s musical story began after meeting on the Internet in the late 1990s. At their first date on the banks of the Tennessee River in north Alabama, Linda brought her guitar and they sang all night long. “We’ve been singing all night long ever since,” Linda often told audiences.
Linda taught herself guitar and started writing songs as a teenager.
She wrote in the gospel and folk genres and even sang on a rap record.
In the Memphis music world, she served as event’s coordinator of the Memphis Songwriters Association (MSA), performed in churches, at farmer’s markets and venues including the Levitt Shell, the Hard Rock Cafe, Center for Southern Folklore, Dixon Gardens and the Shelby Forest General Store. As part of the MSA, she booked a River Arts Festival stage. She was known for her encouragement and love of Memphis musicians and opening her east Memphis home to friends and hosting house concerts for worthy causes.
After being diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in March 2015, Linda began treatment at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. In between treatments, Linda performed with her husband, often playing assisted-living homes as well as hospitals and Alzheimer’s units as part of the Memphis-based agency Creative Aging. “I don’t want to ‘waste my cancer,’” she said. Singing with her husband and for her friends and her faith in God was a continuing source of joy right until the end.
She was preceded in death by her father, John Alvin Deffenbaugh.
She is survived by her husband and music partner, Cecil Yancy; mother, Juanita Deffenbaugh of Danville, Ala.; daughter, Te Ata Headley and husband, Everett, of Montana; daughter, Tamara Graves and husband, Joseph, and granddaughter, Abigail, of Athens, Ala..; son, Joshua Canup and wife, Shanice, of Virginia; step-daughter, Sarah Yancy of Alabama; sister, Sheree’ Brown and husband, Buzz, of Decatur, Ala.; two brothers, Barry Deffenbaugh and wife, Brenda, of Danville, Ala.; Marty Deffenbaugh and wife, Joanne, of Maryland; nieces and nephews; and many friends.
Burial will be in Elmwood Cemetery. Memorial service will be held Saturday, Aug. 6, at 3 p.m., at 412 Tutwiler Ave., Memphis, TN.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Visible Music College, 200 Madison Ave., Memphis, TN 38103, www.visible.edu, and to Memphis musicians facing health crises.
Information provided by Spry Funeral Home, Huntsville, AL
Memphis musician Linda Yancy passed away Aug. 2, 2016, in Athens, Ala. She was 57.
Linda grew up in the orange groves of Florida and lived on three continents. While raising her children, she lived in the tropics of Panama and on the shores of England.
While in Panama, she won the Angel Pin, a congressional award for volunteer service, for organizing a base-wide event for soldiers awaiting the U.S. invasion of Panama.
She had a big heart for the community wherever she lived. She organized many community events, including the building of the unofficial world’s largest tomato sandwich of more than 160 feet. Before coming to Memphis in 2009, Linda owned the Songbird Bistro, a restaurant and music venue, in Ripley, Tenn. She cooked the meals and then took off her apron to open the show.
To watch Linda on stage with her husband, Cecil, was to be “hurled into their dream world of love,” as one writer described the duo.
On stage, the two rarely took their eyes off each other. They blended their strong voices in close harmony, with timing that made their duo seem more like a solo act. Their performances featured stories about their original songs and personal glimpses into their 16-year married life together.
“I fell in love for the first time in a second marriage, and our music is a reflection of that love,” Linda recalled on stage.
The couple’s musical story began after meeting on the Internet in the late 1990s. At their first date on the banks of the Tennessee River in north Alabama, Linda brought her guitar and they sang all night long. “We’ve been singing all night long ever since,” Linda often told audiences.
Linda taught herself guitar and started writing songs as a teenager.
She wrote in the gospel and folk genres and even sang on a rap record.
In the Memphis music world, she served as event’s coordinator of the Memphis Songwriters Association (MSA), performed in churches, at farmer’s markets and venues including the Levitt Shell, the Hard Rock Cafe, Center for Southern Folklore, Dixon Gardens and the Shelby Forest General Store. As part of the MSA, she booked a River Arts Festival stage. She was known for her encouragement and love of Memphis musicians and opening her east Memphis home to friends and hosting house concerts for worthy causes.
After being diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in March 2015, Linda began treatment at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. In between treatments, Linda performed with her husband, often playing assisted-living homes as well as hospitals and Alzheimer’s units as part of the Memphis-based agency Creative Aging. “I don’t want to ‘waste my cancer,’” she said. Singing with her husband and for her friends and her faith in God was a continuing source of joy right until the end.
She was preceded in death by her father, John Alvin Deffenbaugh.
She is survived by her husband and music partner, Cecil Yancy; mother, Juanita Deffenbaugh of Danville, Ala.; daughter, Te Ata Headley and husband, Everett, of Montana; daughter, Tamara Graves and husband, Joseph, and granddaughter, Abigail, of Athens, Ala..; son, Joshua Canup and wife, Shanice, of Virginia; step-daughter, Sarah Yancy of Alabama; sister, Sheree’ Brown and husband, Buzz, of Decatur, Ala.; two brothers, Barry Deffenbaugh and wife, Brenda, of Danville, Ala.; Marty Deffenbaugh and wife, Joanne, of Maryland; nieces and nephews; and many friends.
Burial will be in Elmwood Cemetery. Memorial service will be held Saturday, Aug. 6, at 3 p.m., at 412 Tutwiler Ave., Memphis, TN.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Visible Music College, 200 Madison Ave., Memphis, TN 38103, www.visible.edu, and to Memphis musicians facing health crises.
Information provided by Spry Funeral Home, Huntsville, AL
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