Linda Karen Bennett Mansfield, age 82, after a life filled with grace and grit, Linda Mansfield went to her eternal home on February 15, 2025. She made it just in time for her very first heavenly spring gobbler season.

Linda Mansfield was many things on this side of heaven: a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, a rodeo pioneer, avid hunter, and even a beauty queen, but above all she was irreplaceable. Linda was less than a month away from celebrating her 83rd birthday and now, although we miss her deeply, we find ourselves celebrating a life well-lived.

If you knew Linda, you don't need to be told that she was one of a kind. Over the course of her life she was, in fact, many things to many people and what she meant to you probably depends entirely on what season of life you came to know her. Linda started as a daughter, and only child to Bob and Effie Bennett. It didn't take long for her to find the love of her life, Lucky. They were high school sweethearts, and she chose him to make her a wife. Together, they raised five daughters and built a life. Linda stayed home, a shining example of a helpmate to Lucky, until all of their girls started school. She would work cows, haul hay, care for the girls, cook for the cow crew and keep their home all in the same day. She was a true force of nature. As the girls grew, so did Linda's involvement in our community. She was a pop-warner cheerleading coach, a Sunday school teacher and youth leader, the first woman to be a member of the Arcadia Rodeo Association, a 50+ year Gold Card member of the PRCA and a lifetime member of the DeSoto County Fair Association just to name a few.

In her younger life, she loved rodeo and her rodeo family. Most weekends were spent on the road.  She often hauled kids and horses while Lucky hauled stock. She worked the PRCA circuit as a secretary and timer and she also participated in the all-girl rodeo where she ran barrels, tied goats, undecorated steers and hazed for her cohorts. As most do, the season for non-stop rodeo eventually came to an end. With a growing and expanding family, no small children to take care of and a little more time to spare, new seasons began to rise to the top of Lucky and Linda's agenda. The three seasons that they loved most: turkey, football and deer!

To see our Linda, Momma and Granny in the woods was to truly see her heart. She was an avid hunter, a lover of nature, a master with a turkey call and maverick at staying ahead of the dogs. She always drove her own buggy and if she was ever lost, she didn't care; probably because she had at least a week's worth of snacks and supplies packed, but mostly because she was always happy to be lost in the marvel of God's creation. She taught us all to love nature, to respect it, to soak it in, to pay close attention, to appreciate it and, when the time came to take it out in one clean shot! Each one of us has more than our fair share of stories to tell and it's in those stories that her legacy will live.

No matter how much she loved hunting, however, there's one season that trumped them all.  The one season that would put every other in the back seat is undeniably the season of grandchildren. What started as a sweet bunch of babies quicky evolved into a herd of feral children and no one embraced, encouraged and defended nonsense and shenanigans quite like Granny! She and Lucky could always be counted on for two permanent front row seats at absolutely anything that any of their grandchildren took an interest in and when those grandchildren had children of their own, their joy was palpable! Even after two reserved seats became one, Granny remained steadfast in her support and embraced every milestone, hobby, sport, pageant, recital or rodeo that any of them decided to take an interest in.

As a family, we are sorrowfully thankful. We will miss her immensely, but we are also aware of the gift that she received on February 15th when her faith became sight. What a beautiful gift and the end of a beautiful life! A life of purpose and impact. A life of joy in chaos. A life of intention and pursuit. She truly lived! Every single day, our Momma and Granny lived and we can all only aspire to do the same. She was never a bystander in this life and we're certain that she won't be a bystander in heaven either.

Linda is survived by her children Revae (Bob) Barthle, Sharla (Randy) Padgett, Laura Ann (Petey) Brewer, Michelle (Donald) Padgett, and Melba (Trey) Barnwell; her grandchildren Mendy (Troy) Riddle, Laurel (Scott) Ramsey, Nicole (Ben) Adams, Brandon (Hayden) Barthle, Leslie (Justin) Nelson, Kelsey Barnwell, and Jared Barnwell; her great-grandchildren Caleb (El) Adams, Brady (Sam) Adams, Beckham Nelson, Reyce Ramsey, Kippy Kisela, Leddy Kisela, Emmy Kayte Riddle, Tripp Johnson, and Breyer Barthle. She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 57 years Lucky Mansfield and her parents Bob and Effie Lee (Norris) Bennett.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Chapel of Ponger-Kays-Grady Funeral Home, 50 N. Hillsborough Avenue, Arcadia, Florida 34266.

In lieu of food and flowers, the family requests to please make contributions to Empath Tidewell Hospice, 919 N. Arcadia Avenue, Arcadia, Florida 34266.

Online condolences may be made at: www.pongerkaysgrady.com

Ponger-Kays-Grady Funeral Home & Cremation Services have been entrusted with the arrangements.