Linda Cobb-Reiley

Linda Cobb-Reiley, age 76, died peacefully in the arms of her husband and daughter on February 20, 2021. The cause of death was recent onset rapidly progressive auto immune blood vessel disease that attacked her lungs and proved unable treatable. Born in South Bend Indiana, she received her undergraduate degree at Purdue University where she met her husband to be Tom, marrying him in 1967 and giving life to their daughter Nickie in 1972. She received her Master’s Degree at American University and her PhD in Constitutional and First Amendment Law through the Department of Communications at the University of Utah. She and her life’s partner Tom traveled to and revisited more than 30 nations and island groups and camped throughout the West, in Canada and Alaska. Linda and Tom, daughter Nickie and son-in-law Todd as well as grandsons Justin and Trevor shared many travel destinations. An avid reader all her life and golfer, hiker and skier in her earlier years, she also loved entertaining friends, neighbors and family. Despite life’s ups and downs she was never a complainer, always wore a smile and was generous to all regardless of caste, creed or sexual orientation, demonstrating her Unitarian Universalist faith. As DU’s first female Faculty Senate President she ushered the adoption of faculty domestic partnership benefits. The much-admired professor of First Amendment Communication Law at the University of Denver and founder of the DU Women’s College major Law and Society, Linda retired in 2012. She is survived by her husband Tom Reiley, daughter Nicole Lepke, son-in-law Todd Lepke, and grandsons Trevor and Justin. Also grieving her loss are sisters Judy Blue and Andy Thompson as well as scores of much-loved nieces, nephews and close friends. Linda‘s life will be celebrated after COVID in approximately one year at a joyous Memorial Service to which all who knew and loved her will be invited. Donations in her name should be mailed to: Pastoral Care, Jefferson Unitarian Church, 14350 W. 32nd Avenue, Golden CO 80401.