There will be no public memorial service. In lieu of flowers or other gifts, all donations should be made to either of the following, in accordance with Mr. Linsz’s wishes:

The Bible Broadcasting Network

Moody Bible Institute of Chicago

♡♡♡♡

Douglas (Doug) Frank Linsz of Virginia Beach, Virginia passed away and went into the presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on July 5, 2021 at the age of 87. His death was the result of complications following a stroke he suffered at home, three days earlier.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 3, 1934, he was the son of Howard Charles Linsz and Esther Mary Ohman Linsz, both of whom preceded him in death, as did his brother, Charles Howard Linsz, who was a U.S. Navy Airman shot down and killed in Japan during the final days of World War II, in 1945.

He was also preceded in death by his wife, Rebecca Galbraith Linsz, who died in October, 2020. He and Rebecca were married at Cedar Hill Baptist Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio on June 27, 1970. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June, 2020.

He is survived by his older, fraternal twin, Donald Walter Linsz of Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also survived by two daughters, two sons, and seven grandchildren listed below:

Cynthia Florence Linsz Bowling and her husband, John Eric Bowling, of Chesapeake, Virginia, and their three children:
Kristina Addison Bowling, Claudia Lubov Bowling, and Michael Alexander Bowling.

Gregory Douglas Linsz and his wife, Amy Pounds Linsz, of Easley, South Carolina, and their two children:
Charles Matthew Linsz and Elisabeth Amelia Linsz.

Nathaniel Wesley Linsz of Huntington Beach, California.

Allison Esther Linsz Mutsch, and her husband, Brian Tomas Mutsch, of Chesapeake, Virginia, and their two children:
Addison Joy Mutsch and Samuel Larson Mutsch.

During his early years, Mr. Linsz became very interested in Cleveland sports teams. In particular, the Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Browns. Some of his sweetest memories were of attending games with his family at League Park and Cleveland Municipal Stadium. He graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in 1952. In addition to his studies, his teen years were filled with hours of folding and delivering daily newspapers for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Well-liked and respected by their customers, he and his brother Don were voted most popular delivery boys for the entire Cleveland area in 1948.

He attended King’s College in New York for one year before transferring. He then studied at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Business Administration in 1957. His college years included active involvement in Christian ministries, for which his trumpet was his chief instrument of worship.

After college, Mr. Linsz worked for many years during the late 1950s and 1960s at the Cleveland headquarters of the Addressograph Multigraph Corporation, a company which embossed metal name and address plates once as common as business cards in millions of offices around the United States. He then worked as an insurance salesman in the downtown Cleveland office of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company for most of the 1970s. An opportunity to work as a stewardship representative for the D.L. Moody Bible Institute expedited a move for Mr. Linsz and his family to the Chicago area in 1979. During those years, he drove countless miles in and around Chicago, meeting with current and potential donors to Institute ministries and programs.

The final seventeen years of his career also included daily driving of long distances. As a Federal Express courier in Virginia Beach, Virginia, he was awarded for safe driving excellence year after year, while relishing the regular opportunity to meet new people and hear their stories. He loved the daily challenge to complete routes on time, often volunteering to make additional deliveries as evening deadlines approached.

His most important achievements were twofold: the humble modeling of a life committed to Christ for his four children, and the tireless caregiving during his wife’s long years of decline. The tribute below was written by his oldest son.

Douglas Frank Linsz
1934 ♡♡♡♡ 2021

This evening, my dad quietly slipped into the warm embrace of Jesus Christ, claiming God’s promise of eternal life! As shocking as the past few days have been for us, God knew about this appointed day from the moment of dad’s birth, eighty-seven years ago.

Any man who marries a Godly woman is blessed with a beautiful wife. And so it was for dad, smiling broadly as mom beamed in the summer sunlight, as though they both stood triumphantly on a mountain top.

Even so, he glowed far brighter as he stood by his bride, tirelessly helping her when no one else was in the house, in her deepest valleys when she leaned on him most. During her final, fading days.

And now they gaze at each other again! High on that mountain, with all valleys below them and in their past. They stand upright, flooded with a light that will never dim; in a land untouched by even the slightest trace of pain or sadness, loneliness or disappointment.

My dad was a humble, quiet man who modeled a commitment to Christ and the importance of being responsible with all God provided for us. He possessed an uncanny ability to recall long ago names and places, events and conversations, which allowed him to paint a vivid picture of moments everyone else had long forgotten. Now, we’ll tell his story.

The losses during his youth of both his older brother to war and his mother to cancer greatly impacted him, and the reunions happening now must be indescribably sweet. He always referred to them so fondly, just as we always knew he loved us deeply. His interest in each of our lives never faded.

And so mom and dad are both now gone. Gone to an everlasting life they will share together… forever! They leave behind a legacy of love for us, and more importantly, for Christ.

Until we are all reunited, we hold onto God’s promises.

All born of the flesh will die.
All born of the Spirit will live forever!