Linda Marie Buzzeo Best

Linda Marie Buzzeo Best of Lenoir City passed away peacefully at home after a brief illness. She was 73.

Dr. Best died Sept. 10 in the presence of her loving husband, daughter, and son. She was a highly accomplished and beloved woman of letters and faith. She was professor emerita and chair of the English department at Kean University and the first woman to serve as president of the parish pastoral council at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City.

Dr. Best also was a national award-winning author of eight books, highly regarded international authority on writing, volunteer instructor for local adult learning programs, and committed community-service organizational leader.

She is preceded in death by her father, Antonio “Tony” Buzzeo, the subject of her book “Antonio’s Story: Coming of Age on the Battlefields of WWII,” her mother, Helena “Lena” Carella Buzzeo of Stamford, Conn., and her sister, Louise Osborne of Largo, Fla.

She is survived by her husband of 51 years, Laurence Best; their daughter, Barbara Best-Serpas of Cambridge, Mass.; and their son, Michael Best of Farragut; sisters Rosemarie Miller of Chester, N.J., and Deborah Pond of Norwalk, Conn.; brother Anthony Buzzeo Jr. of Bears, N.Y.; granddaughter Elena Serpas of New Haven, Conn.; grandsons Vincent and Jackson Best of Farragut; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and former students.

A funeral Mass was held at St. Thomas the Apostle on Oct. 20, and inurnment was in the St. Thomas columbarium.