Please join us on July 9th, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. to honor and celebrate the life of Kyōji Linda Dekker. The memorial service will be held at the Sacramento Dharma Center, with a reception to follow. We would appreciate those attendees who are able to bring a snack, sweet, or fruit to share.
The Sacramento Dharma Center and its sustaining sanghas offer their deepest gratitude and respect to Kyōji Linda Dekker, one of the founders of SDC and Valley Streams Zen Sangha. Linda passed from this life on April 2nd after a long illness, surrounded by her family and friends. She is survived by her son Bryn, partner Nuala, and grandchild Parlee, as well as her best friends, Gwen Roedel Green and Garry Green, her honorary grandson Nathaniel Green, many close friends, and Dharma brothers and sisters.
A devoted practitioner, Linda became a student of Tenshin Reb Anderson in the late 1990s and practiced with him in residence at Green Gulch Farm. She served as Ino (head of the meditation hall) at VSZS from 2015 to 2018. Linda’s commitment to the Sacramento Dharma Center can be traced all the way to the roots of the organization. She was a founding member of Valley Streams Zen Sangha and a strong contributor in the early days of the Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group. This relationship placed her in a position to help in drawing the sanghas together and encouraging the conversations that led to the vision of sharing a permanent home and future.
Linda strongly supported the idea to seek out a shared space for inter-sangha practice and committed herself to making the venture a reality. She served on the Inter-Sangha Coordinating Committee as a representative for Valley Streams and worked to find the best path forward for securing a home for the sanghas. After a year of discussion, the group decided to form a nonprofit, the Sacramento Dharma Center, to act as the entity responsible for finding, purchasing, and maintaining a permanent home for VSZS, SBMG, and Sacramento Insight Meditation.
Linda’s contributions to the formation of the SDC were immense and began with the work of incorporating the nonprofit, creating its structure, and pursuing a tax-exempt status. She served on the SDC Board of Directors and dedicated herself to the challenging work that the board faced in securing a property for SDC. Linda and other board members took a fundraising seminar and worked together to build the network of donors that sustain SDC and our sanghas to this day. The board’s search committee diligently looked for properties that would accommodate the needs of the three sanghas. Finally, in 2016, the property on Wissemann Drive was presented as a possible site and Linda toured the location along with SDC president Susan Orr. Seeing the promise of the property, the board made the decision to purchase it. Linda’s leadership and dedication to the project were crucial through the long process of negotiating the purchase, securing the loan, and beginning renovations once the sale was finalized.
Linda would serve a total of eight years on the SDC board, while also sitting at times on the VSZS board and commanding a variety of roles and responsibilities. She served on the SDC Art and Design Committee, and worked to enrich the aesthetic and spiritual environment that makes SDC the inviting and peaceful refuge it is today. Linda also served as the first office manager for SDC, taking on the immense duties of managing the property, maintaining the financial health of the organization, and scheduling events. As Jerry Simpkins, an early SDC board member and friend, remembered, “Linda always showed up. She was there for all and provided support and ideas and presence for all whom she encountered.” In every room of the Dharma Center, in every area of its history and workings, and in the deep practice of its sanghas and members, Linda’s contributions can be found.
Even with all of her service to the Dharma, Linda will be remembered best as a friend and a fellow traveler of Buddha’s Way. “Linda was an extraordinary friend, a friend who was direct, honest and supportive in the truest sense of those virtues,” remembers John Penfield, a long-time friend and VSZS member. She shared her passions and interests with her friends, from literature and movies to gardening to cooking, and was always happy to swap a book or recipe recommendation. Decades of deep practice and intensive retreats created strong friendships with many as Linda supported the Dharma path of her fellow practitioners and encouraged their efforts.
Through her sustained practice in the Dharma and her devotion to the strength and future of the SDC mission, Linda walked the bodhisattva path. The communities that she brought together and supported recognize her selfless and compassionate work in creating a home for their sanghas and a place to offer the Buddha Way. She worked tirelessly for the benefit of all practitioners who seek out SDC for community, healing, and authentic practice. Linda will be deeply missed by our community as we move forward to honor her legacy with sustained practice and a dedication to celebrating the Dharma. We invite all to join us in honoring Linda’s memory on July 9th at the Sacramento Dharma Center.
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