Astrid Linley, age 87 of Monroe, CT, beloved wife of the late Leonard F. Linley, passed away with her family by her side on Sunday, October 22, 2023 at St. Vincent's Medical Center. Born in Latvia, Astrid was the daughter of the late Peter Arvids Puga and Millija Veronika Lessins. As a young girl during World War II, Astrid and her family evaded the Russian invasion of Latvia by escaping to Germany and then the United States on a Red Cross ship.  While learning the English language, she simultaneously earned her high school degree while working as a live-in nanny in Katonah, New York. After graduating high school, Astrid attended Wagner College, graduating in 1958.  Astrid became a Registered Nurse and spent her career in nursing and clinical and classroom instructor of nursing at numerous hospitals, including Bridgeport Hospital and The Hospital of St. Raphael. After years of service as a nurse and educator, she went on to become a Director of Continuing Care and Hospital Services for Park City Hospital and Physicians Health Services. Her final place of employment was at St. Vincent's Medical Center as a Case Manager, where she touched the lives of many.  Astrid was a loving, giving person who devoted her life to serving others.

Outside of her work life, Astrid enjoyed ballroom dancing (dancing competitively throughout the Northeast with multiple top-3 finishes), playing the piano, listening to classical music, taking walks around Great Hollow Lake, and attending to her flowers in the yard – her favorites were her Lilac bushes. Astrid was known to be a very avid reader and had a bookshelf in almost every room of her house, filled with hard cover books from some of her favorite authors such as:  Mary Higgins Clark, James Patterson, Harlen Coben and David Baldacci. She enjoyed books written in her native tongue of Latvian as well.  Above all else, Astrid loved spending time with and supporting her family which was evidenced by a beautiful smile and glow on her face whenever she was in their company.

Astrid is survived by her loving daughters, Anita Peet (husband Bill) and Linda Graham (husband Julian), and three beloved grandchildren, Melissa and Billy Peet and Melanie Graham as well as multiple nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her stepmother, Helen Pelkaus Puga, and three stepbrothers, John, Edward, and Andrew Pelkaus.

The family would like to thank Dr. Nicholas A. Blondin for all of his attentiveness, care, support and advocacy for Astrid throughout her illness.

Funeral services will be held Friday, October 27, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. meeting directly in Monroe Congregational Church, 34 Church Street, Monroe, CT. Interment will follow in Monroe Center Cemetery. Friends may call Thursday, October 26, 2023 from 4-7 p.m. in the Redgate - Hennessy Funeral Home, Main Street and Gorham Place, Trumbull, CT. Contributions in memory of Astrid Linley may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association at www.lbda.org. To send online condolences please visit www.redgatehennessy.com

Lewy Body Dementia Association, Inc.
912 Killian Hill Road S.W., Lilburn GA 30047
Web: https://www.lbda.org/donate