On the evening of Sept. 1, 2016, Linda Martenson Chapman suffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke. Airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital by Coast Guard fixed wing aircraft because of the fog on Martha’s Vineyard that night, she was operated on and diligently cared for by the doctors and staff of the Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit. But the damage was too great. The intense love of her family guided her to palliative care, and she died peacefully on the evening of Sept. 16. The hole she left in the world that knew her was enormous — a chasm of shock, grief and loss.

Linda touched the lives of many people, and accomplished so very many things that benefitted the individuals, institutions and communities to which she was selflessly dedicated and to which she freely gave of herself, her concern, her creative intellect, her compassion and her love.

She made enormous contributions to the art and science of teaching, not just in Westchester County, N.Y., where she taught both students and teachers, but nationally as well. An early innovator and leader in the integration of internet technology and curriculum, she served as a national keynote speaker and frequent presenter for the American Library Association, as well as for numerous other national library, technology and curriculum conferences. She directed the libraries of four different school districts in her career, designing and overseeing the construction or renovation of multiple school libraries in the process. She had one foot in school administration, one foot in the classroom, and her heart in the library learning center. Always a visionary, Linda did groundbreaking work at the very advent of the digital age that advanced student research as a means to achieving information literacy and developing critical thinking. She and her colleagues in Somers, N.Y., paid careful attention to the developing science of how the brain learns, designing and implementing educational techniques to apply that knowledge to the discipline of teaching. As an adjunct professor at Long Island University, she taught and nurtured a generation of school librarians, ensuring that her legacy would carry forward not just through those she directly guided and taught, but also through those who in their own turn were guided by those she had taught.

The daughter of Minnie and Eric Martenson of Auburndale, she attended Newton schools and graduated from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Conn. She earned her MLS degree from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Library and Information Science and did doctoral work (ABD) at New York University Graduate School of Education.

Linda and her husband Stephen met in New Haven and were inseparable for more than 52 years. They spent their lives together joined in a perfect loving union: sharing their thoughts, dreams, ideas and aspirations. One of their dreams was to build a home on Martha’s Vineyard and retire there. Before buying land, Linda, characteristically, visited all the town libraries on Island and was immediately won over with the community support and enthusiasm for the West Tisbury Library. Soon vested in a parcel of land in West Tisbury, they began planning the post-and-beam home that would become a dream come true, every inch of which reflecting both her own unique touch and the unity of their shared vision.

She no longer sits in her perch in the house’s great room, diligently working for the organizations, friends and causes she so enthusiastically embraced upon becoming a part of the Vineyard community. In her place on her favorite chair is a shopping bag, with a gift-wrapped box of her ashes inside, a quiet memorial to her passion for the joy, challenge and sport of shopping. Piled on the bag and box is a growing stack of the cards Stephen regularly makes for her — as soul mates will forever share their love and their thoughts.

Linda leaves behind a legacy of dedication, generosity, leadership and creative problem solving, not only in her former professional and personal communities, but in her adopted home on Martha’s Vineyard. She touched many people with the gift of herself, her love, her time, her intellect and her boundless energy, and she was deeply loved in return. Her loss leaves a palpable vacuum; she will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her husband, Stephen, and their loving son, Jonathan, who will travel the remaining road of life in support of each other, just as they had made the quiet, numb journey in the middle of a September night, hand in hand, to be one last time with their beloved Linda.

Linda is also survived by her close-knit families, whose intense love and support cradled the tragedy of her struggle and passing in communal strength, and continues, along with that of her many dear friends, to provide Stephen and Jonathan with love, comfort and care.

The chasm of loss is dark, the way forward a struggle, but there are points of light that surround us in the solitude of despair and remind us that we are never alone.

Donations in Linda’s name may be made to the West Tisbury Free Public Library, where an appropriate memorial dedication is being planned.