On April 17, 2019, Linda Kay Hamlin Russin, loving and dedicated member of the Key West community, passed away unexpectedly from natural causes.
Linda was born on Dec. 23, 1949, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, to Robert and Bernis (Bivins) Hamlin. She received her English/Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1968. Linda taught English, journalism and cheerleading at Westminster Christian School in Miami, and was a trade journal editor before becoming the Public Relations Director at Victoria Hospital in Miami. She then became the Public Relations Director at Memorial Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, where she met her husband, Dr. John Russin. John and Linda married in December 1987 and raised their daughter, Alissa, who is a mechanical engineer in Boston.
John and Linda acquired Key West’s WIIS-FM Island Radio in 1995, and Linda began working at the station full-time in 2008. Linda was the owner, operator, station manager, sales representative, DJ, community outreach coordinator, news director, programmer, weatherman, maintenance manager and cleaning crew for Island 106.9 and one of her greatest thrills was when she went to a business and heard that they were playing her radio station for customers.
Linda was currently serving as secretary of The Rotary Club of Key West and was slated to become president for the 2020-2021 Rotary year. Serving her Key West community through Rotary since 2005 was one of Linda’s greatest passions and she dearly loved the Rotary family she had joined.
Linda was interested in history and genealogy and was a standing member of the Cherokee Nation. She loved Southern-style cooking, Oklahoma Sooners football, exercising, reading mystery books, keeping in touch with friends through social media, and helping anyone in need.
Always up for an exciting adventure, Linda went skydiving with the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights, made a tailhook landing on aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, flew in the U.S. Navy Blue Angels C-130 “Fat Albert” and went to Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island.
Linda was preceded in death by her father, Robert, her mother, Bernis, and her brother Steve. She is survived by husband John, daughter Alissa, brother John (Margaret), sister Jane (Nick) and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. Linda will be laid to rest next to her parents at the Ramona Cemetary near her beloved hometown of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on Monday, April 29.