Linda Rae Wagner

Linda Rae Wagner, 85, went to be with her Lord and Savior in Heaven on Monday, August 4, 2025 at home with her loving family beside her after very bravely and courageously fighting cancer for the past six months. Linda was born on July 26, 1940 in Carlisle, PA to Robert L. and Helen M. (Adams) Egolf. She lived her entire life in Carlisle until 2022 when she moved, along with her husband, to New Bloomfield, PA to live with their daughter and son-in-law. She was a 1958 graduate of Carlisle High School and married the love of her life, Robert F. “Tuffy” Wagner, Jr. while he was in the U.S. Navy. They were married for more than 65 years until he passed away on December 18, 2024. She stayed home with her two children, Bobby and Vicki, until they entered school and then she began working part-time in the pharmacy at Rea & Derick Drug Store in Carlisle. She then worked at Hall’s Motor Transit Company in Mechanicsburg, PA before going to work as a federal employee at the U.S. Army War College/Carlisle Barracks in the Transportation Department where she retired after many years of dedicated service. After her retirement from the federal government, she joined her husband working as a school bus driver for the Carlisle Area School District for many years where she transported students from the Carlisle Army Barracks. Together they enjoyed taking many trips to events with various Carlisle High School sports teams and the marching band. During their retirement years, she and Tuffy traveled throughout the United States and also enjoyed taking cruises to Alaska and the Caribbean. She had a special love for flower gardening and it was an annual tradition to go flower shopping for their beautiful home in the mountain. She especially loved hummingbirds and watching them and all the deer and other wildlife from their front porch. She also enjoyed many fun shopping trips with her daughter and grandchildren. She made every holiday very memorable by cooking/baking her special dishes for family to enjoy and passed down many family recipes. One of her greatest joys was attending sporting and other events for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and she always tried to be at as many as possible to support them and cheer them on. She was a lifelong member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Carlisle where she sang in the church choir for many years. She was a loving, selfless, caring and devoted daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and friend and leaves behind a lifetime of happy and cherished memories that will live on in the hearts of her family and friends. She set a wonderful example of love, giving and loyalty which will forever be a model for her family to live by and she and her beautiful smile will be missed every day. Linda is survived by her daughter, Vicki L. McCloskey (husband Larry) of New Bloomfield, PA; grandson, Nathaniel “Nat” Barrick (wife Gretchen) of Marysville, PA; granddaughter, Saige Wagner, and grandson, Jacob Wagner, of Newville, PA; three great-grandchildren, Shaylyn Swope-Barrick of Newville, PA and Kannon and Kynlee Barrick of Marysville, PA. She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Robert F. “Tuffy” Wagner, Jr.; a son, Robert F. “Bobby” Wagner, III; a grandson, Zachariah S. “Zack” Barrick; three brothers, Richard Egolf, Robert Egolf and Ronald Egolf, and a sister Beverly Egolf. A private family service will be held at the Boyer Family Funeral Home in New Bloomfield with Pastor Alan Eckert officiating. Burial will be in the Bloomfield Cemetery. The family is forever grateful for the compassionate care provided by so many at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Premier Perry Village, Hospice of Central PA and her home care nurse, Mercy. Memorial contributions honoring Linda’s memory may be made to Hospice of Central PA, 1320 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17110.

Linda Rae Wagner

July 26, 1940 - August 4, 2025