Linda Giles Leahey

Linda Giles Leahey, 87, of Hilton Head Island, passed away on October 12, 2026, at her home with family by her side.

Linda was born October 15,1938 on Long Island, NY to her parents Samuel and Helen Giles. She grew up in Port Jefferson and Setauket and spent much of that time working at her father’s car dealership, Giles Chevrolet, in Port Jefferson. After high school she attended Courtland State Teacher’s College. It was while attending Courtland she met her husband, Edward. Upon completing college, she returned to Long Island and taught several years in the Three Village School district.

In the early 1970s, Linda and her husband purchased the Whiteface Chalet in Wilmington, NY. Here Linda put her excellent business skills and social skills to work. Everything from organizing activities for college ski club guests to helping create Santa Clause weekends in conjunction with other local businesses. They operated the 22-room hotel until 1979. Returning in 1980 for the winter Olympics, as a volunteer, Linda put her math skills to work in the timing shack for ski racing.

The family returned to Long Island in 1980 as Linda looked to help her brother Bruce in any way she could as he battled leukemia. Obtaining her real estate license, she sold real estate for a few years before becoming a business manager at Gurney’s Inn in Montauk, NY. In 1983 the family relocated to Queensbury, NY where Linda worked as a business manager at the newly built Ramada Renaissance in Saratoga. 1986 found Linda and her husband as managers of the Windmill Point Marine Resort in Whitestone, VA before making the final move to Hilton Head, SC in 1987.

During the remainder of her career Linda became a real estate broker and formed her own reality company, all while putting her two children through college and taking care of her elderly parents. Linda’s constant energy, motivation, intelligence and love will be missed by family and all that knew her.

Linda is survived by her son Todd Leahey and daughter-in-law Yvette of Tolland, CT; her daughter Michelle Cox of Columbia, MO; and six grandchildren- Corrin, Nicholas, Patrick, Amanda, Jacqueline and Everett. She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Edward, in 2024.

As per Linda’s request, a memorial is not planned at this time. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, as they were instrumental in the treatment of both her brother and husband.