For Linda Wilder, looking after other people was a habit which was impossible to break.

Having worked at Ipswich Hospital for many years and then caring for hospice patients in the final months and weeks of their lives, Linda’s kindness made all the difference to countless lives.

“Up until the end, she was always thinking of everyone else,” said Linda’s daughter, Gemma Peireira. “She was really tough lady.”

Linda Wilder (Image: Gemma Pereira)

Gemma continued: “Mum loved fiercely, and the more she loved you, the more honest she was with you. She would never tell you what you wanted to hear just to make you feel better.

“Instead, she told you what you needed to hear because she cared too much not to.”

Linda was born in Ipswich on December 5, 1958, the youngest of three children born to Audrey and Alfred Jacobs, joining older brothers Brian and David. The children grew up in the Maidenhall area of town and attended Tower Ramparts School.

Linda was 20 and working in insurance for Eagle Star when she met the love of her life and the man who was to become her husband, Keith Wilder.

Linda became a stepmother to Keith’s four children, Lee, Carl, Dean, and Tanya, thrown into the deep end of parenting teenagers at just 22. Linda developed a close relationship with her stepchildren and missed them when their mother remarried, and the children joined her in Germany.

Keith and Linda welcomed three more children, with Gemma arriving in 1982, Keiron in 1983, and Scott in 1985.

Linda and Keith Wilder. (Image: Gemma Pereira)

Linda became a Team Leader at St Elizabeth Hospice. (Image: Gemma Pereira)

Linda had a friendly, sociable nature and leaves behind countless friends. (Image: Gemma Pereira)

When the children started school, Linda was finally able to think about what she wanted to do with her career. She had always been a caring, maternal person and had long been interested in nursing. This led her to train as a healthcare assistant, spending the next few years at Ipswich Hospital.

Here, Linda became an enormously valued and respected member of the team. She was mostly based on the Needham Ward, caring for elderly people, many of them in their 90s.

When she finally left the hospital, many might have looked forward to finally having a rest. Not Linda – instead, she began working in palliative care at St Elizabeth Hospice, helping to make sure that people who wanted to die in their own homes could have their wish.

This work was enormously important to Linda, and she went on to become a team leader at St Elizabeth Hospice.

“That was just what she did – and she loved it,” said Gemma.

Linda Wilder with her family. L-R: Keith, Keiron, Gemma, Linda, Scott and Lee. (Image: Gemma Pereira)

Linda pictured with her colleagues from St Elizabeth Hospice, Sarah Pratt and Jodie Hodgkinson, on the day she retired. (Image: Gemma Pereira)

Linda was a beloved wife, mother and grandmother. (Image: Gemma Pereira)

When Linda died, her funeral procession made a detour past the hospice – where her family were touched to see staff lined up on either side of the car park, who wanted to pay their respects.

Outside of her work, Linda remained a social butterfly with a wide circle of friends. She was also a devoted grandmother, with she and Keith becoming grandparents to 17 grandchildren, who were spread out all over the world.

Linda was proud of each and every one of them, and scrupulous in getting Christmas and birthday cards to everyone.

She was always immaculately turned out, with never a hair out of place. Growing up, Gemma would always associate the smell of hairspray and perfume with her mum. This never changed, other than the perfume seeing a few upgrades over the years.

In June last year, Linda was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. She underwent surgery and several rounds of chemo – but even in the midst of treatment, her makeup was always perfect.

The family were able to go on a trip to Center Parcs, going away just two months before Linda passed away. Despite her illness, Linda was determined to make lasting memories with her family, and they will treasure the time they were able to spend together.

“Her family really were her world,” said Gemma. “Everything she did was for friends and family.”

Linda died at home, surrounded by her family, on June 18, 2026. She was 67.

To read more tributes to those we have loved and lost in Ipswich, click here