Robert Fred Linn

Lt. Col. Robert Fred Linn

Lt. Col. Robert Fred Linn died Friday, April 4, 2014 at the age of 96. He was born in 1917 to Fredrick Linn and Minnie Pitts on Greenwood Avenue in the Virginia-Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta where he always enjoyed pointing out the childhood landmarks that meant so much to him over his lifetime. He attended Bass High School and Young Harris College and also John Marshall Law School for an LLB and LLM. He was hired at Lockheed Aircraft in 1951; the year the company opened its doors, and had a successful career in management there for 32 years. On Christmas Eve in 1938, Evelyn Saggus of Atlanta eloped with Fred to Conyers, Ga. Immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the Navy for the duration of the war, serving in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands in the Pacific. After the war he joined the Army Reserve as a Medical Service Corps Officer and achieved the rank Lt. Col. before retiring in 1977. Fred and Evelyn raised their young family in Decatur where he would wake his three girls with a boson's whistle over the home intercom and announce: Now hear this! He reported for Army duty on weekends throughout their childhoods and family summer vacations were often spent on army bases like Forts McClellan, Sam Houston and others while he trained. He was, rightfully, proud of his success in the military. The couple also enjoyed travels through Pennsylvania and the Northeast hunting for antiques and treasures for Evelyn's shop, and after retirement they took up golf at the Druid Hills Golf Club. For 61 years, they danced to Blue Spanish Eyes and Tennessee Waltz?until her death in 1999. Fred was a member of Shallowford Presbyterian Church and was active in starting an Alzheimer's support group there where he met Naomi Harman. For the next 14 years she brought companionship back into his life. Fred is survived by three daughters: Karen Szwast (Gary) of Hoschton, Ga.; Rebecca Young and Minla Shields (Jerry) of Atlanta. He is also survived by four grandchildren and their spouses, all of Atlanta?Scott Szwast (Janice), Travis Szwast (Amanda), Carson Young (fiancée Katy McDonald) and Audrey Shields-Cloues (Dustin)?and four great grandchildren: Jack, Alex, Emma and Finn Szwast. Fred's loving friend Naomi Harman also survives him. Fred will be remembered as fun-loving and always early as well as dependable and strong in any circumstance, at any time. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 10 in the Chapel of Shallowford Presbyterian Church with a reception immediately following in the Great Hall. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Shallowford Presbyterian Church, 2375 Shallowford Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30345. A.S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory.




Funeral Home:
A.S. Turner
2773 N. Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033