Linda Alexander Gerisch, 68, passed away on December 20, 2019 in Thousand Oaks, CA as a result of sudden and unexpected complications with her heart. 

Linda was born on June 4, 1951 in Los Angeles, CA to Bette and Robert Alexander. She spent time growing up in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Salt Lake City with two brothers Tim and Tom and sister Cheryl. 

Through her teen years, Linda developed a love for music, and in the early 70's, she permanently moved to LA with a guitar-toting boyfriend. LA really suited Linda's free spirit and love for music, but she quickly realized that she wanted more for her life. She moved to Manhattan Beach, met a group of girls that became her roommates, and started her professional life by taking a job at a local bank in Inglewood.  

After working at the bank for a while, she left and took a position as a receptionist at a top LA law firm, LaFollette Johnson. She spent many years working at the firm where she then met Al, they married, and began a family having Brendon and Ryan. Soon after Brendon was born, she went back to school and gained her paralegal degree, something she was always proud of.

Over her adult life, she was heavily involved in the local community working with children’s charities and local schools. She then went on to be a counselor to troubled youth and battered women. She founded the Earth Club at Ryan's elementary school and was always present at events and activities for both of her sons.

It was very important to her that her boys be well traveled and exposed to world culture since she herself loved to travel. She took them on a month-long trip to France at young ages, and they took countless trips to destinations such as Mexico, Hawaii, Italy, Switzerland, and the Bahamas. In the early 90s, however, a key event would define the rest of her life as well as that of Brendon and Ryan. Choosing a complete stranger to live with the family as a foreign exchange student from Italy, she selected Jacopo, a curly-haired teen from Milan out of a book of eligible students. Jacopo Carminati then became a permanent member of the family. Over twenty-five years later, Jacopo is a brother to Brendon and Ryan, and Linda considered him her closest friend.

As her sons grew older, she went back to work and found a new passion in retail. Her outgoing spirit was perfect for retail- she worked for a friend’s interior decor store, then moved on to work for lifestyle brands such as Kate Spade and Williams-Sonoma. She honed her love of homemaking and moved into the Conejo Valley permanently in the early 2000s, where she later ultimately retired.

She was most proud of raising her two boys and seeing them grow up to eventually both marry. Both Brendon and Ryan met their wives around the same time, became engaged, and later married only a few months apart. She formed a special bond with both Jess and Amanda and loved them like the daughters she never had.

Her family and friends would best describe her as a social butterfly, the “hostess with the mostest,” a travel connoisseur, a lover of wine, and a friend for life. She loved hosting parties and having friends and family over for BBQ’s in her home. She was often spotted at some of her favorite local spots such as Stonehaus or attending Meet-Up events throughout the Conejo Valley sharing laughs with friends.