Linda Mullendore Brandenburg

Linda Mullendore Brandenburg was killed in an automobile accident last Saturday, February 20, 2016. She was driving and her last minute heroics saved her husband’s and dog’s life. Linda and her husband John J. ‘Jack’ Brandeburg were inseparable, along, with their German Shepherd Julia. Jack and Linda moved to Groton in 1987. Jack was working for John Geils at his restoration shop in Ayer and felt it was time to raise their only child, Lee, in Groton. Lee began his education at Tarbell School. Lee graduated from Groton Dunstable in 1999. After some struggles, he graduated from UMass Lowell with a degree in Elec. Eng. He now works for Eversource Energy and lives in Stoughton. Linda graduated from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA in 1969. Jack and Linda had attended high school together in Western Maryland and were eventually happily married for 45 years. Linda’s teaching career spanned 40 years beginning at the Samuel Mason School in Roxbury near the old Boston City Hospital. Linda taught countless hundreds of minority kids, making an indelible mark on all of them. Linda maintained contact with them often into adulthood and taught their children. The last half of Linda’s career included the daunting commute from Groton to Dorchester. Her final years were teaching advanced work fourth and fifth grade. She would have 10-15 students for two years and try to get them prepared for the prestigious Boston Latin School. Many of her minority students made it through and received full scholarships to Boston University, Northeastern, Tufts etc. She made a difference in their lives. The John Winthrop School was in a tough neighborhood off of Blue Hill Ave. in Dorchester. One day there was a drive-by shooting while the kids were on the playground. Needless to say, morale was poor. In the morning Linda answered the door at the school to find Mayor Menino. He said, “This is going to stop.” Linda was overwhelmed. Linda retired in 2012. Linda’s parents, Charlotte Hauver Mullendore and Lee R. Mullendore were from the Hagerstown area of Central Maryland. Charlotte attended college in the ‘30s. A real feat for a woman at that time in farm country. She taught first grade in Cumberland, MD, including her daughter, Linda. She also had an impact on her community, teaching half the future judges, lawyers, doctors, etc. in the town. She taught for 43 years and was adored by her husband and treated like the lady she was. Calling hours will be at the Badger Funeral Home in Groton on Saturday, February 27, from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to a charity of your choice. Visit badgerfuneral.com for directions or to send expressions of sympathy.