Linda "Lou" Bruckert Hulsey

May 10, 1951 - May 5, 2024

Linda “Lou” Bruckert Hulsey

Linda “Lou” Bruckert Hulsey, 72, of Brentwood, entered her peace after a seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s dementia. A Celebration of Life will be held Sunday, June 2nd at The Nashville Zoo at Grassmere in The Gallery with visiting from 2-5 p.m. and service at 4 p.m, “dress is casual”.  Linda was widely loved by many, please RSVP by text, call, or email to Jennifer Bruckert at 423-839-9050 or [email protected] so the venue can adequately provide refreshments.

Linda lived every day like the “great fun” adventure life can be. She filled her days with love, boundless energy, and enthusiasm in a constant flurry of activity. Her passions included photography and travel, being in nature, zoos and animals of all kinds – especially cats big and small, live music, being near water, hiking, snow- and waterskiing, the beach, scuba diving, and zipping along “good, curvy roads” in her sportscars. She was a natural collector of anything she loved, filling her home with photos and trinkets from her travels around the world making every nook and cranny a happy reminder of treasured memories.

Born in Nashville and a class of 1969 graduate of Antioch High School, Linda studied photography in the 1970s at the University of Tennessee’s Nashville campus. She became an award-winning photographer who documented her life one shutter-click at a time and an active member of the Nashville and Brentwood Photography clubs. Photography was a lifelong passion that started with her mother’s Kodak Brownie and developed from stops on roadsides to marvel at barns and horses, the evolving Nashville skyline, family and friends, celebrities and musicians, nature, travels, and celebrations of all kinds including Christmas mornings with the whole family at her mother’s home. In her profession as a certified legal secretary for various firms in downtown Nashville, she enjoyed her work while becoming close friends with coworkers, and often looked forward to traveling for conferences with both the National Association of Legal Support Professionals and Tennessee Alliance of Legal Services–for which she proudly served as president.

“Work hard, play harder” could have been Linda’s life motto because she always made time for fun and travel. Her adventures were vast on trips near and far to be with family and friends, go on African safaris, explore island jungles and volcanoes, and criss-cross Europe including a pinnacle moment seeing the Eiffel Tower. Locally she could be found at the lake, state parks, concerts and the annual CMA Fest, Titans games and meet & greets, Bunco with her girlfriends, and as a Friday night fixture with her favorite drink, a margarita, in hand at Margarita House Mexican Restaurant in Mt. Juliet with friends. There was even that one time she went to see a live taping of “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno. When she met Jay, he scooped her up in his arms - and of course, there’s a photo to prove it!

Despite her busy life, Linda prioritized giving back to organizations she deeply cared about. She volunteered with Safe Haven Family Shelter of Nashville, and it was one of her greatest joys in life to volunteer innumerable hours at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere as a Docent for many years. Her love for animals had found an outlet to volunteer and give back, in addition to the perks of getting to hold and experience many of these wild animals up close. Her favorites? “All of them,” she would say, but the clouded leopards had her heart.

Of her many accomplishments, her greatest was simply being a thoughtful, kind person with a smile on her face, a big hug to give, care for all animals and people (unless they were driving too slowly in front of her), and a laugh that could warm the coldest day.

As a believer, in her peace Linda has been reunited with her beloved mother and best friend, Mary Margaret Holt Bruckert “Granny”; father, Frederick Albert Bruckert; favorite cousin Robert “Bobby” Holt; uncles William “Bill” Holt and Richard Holt among others.

She is survived by her life partner in adventure of 44 years and husband since April 28, 2000, Gary Hulsey, also of Brentwood. From their first meeting at The Gold Rush over bean rolls to cascading on skis down Rocky Mountain peaks on newfallen snow, their trips and memories were numerous, marking the hills and valleys of life. As the beautiful, smarter, and wiser (not “older”) sister to her surviving brothers, Mike (Judy) Bruckert and Paul Bruckert, Linda’s time spent with them, their children, and grandchildren was precious to her. Everyone’s favorite Aunt Linda would disagree that she never had any children of her own because her cats - Abbey, Henley, Kashmir, Bailey, Ozzy, Tom, Splash, Pepper, and Crosby; nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephews were all her “children” that she shared with Gary – Justin (Stacey; Jack and Gavin) Bruckert, Jessica (Josh; Rory and Arya) Peters, Matthew Bruckert, Jennifer Bruckert (Jared; Carina Howcroft), Jaime Olson, Allison Kaylor (Charles, Katelynn, Jordyn, and Ryder). Other very special people to Linda include her lifelong best friend Barbara Bowman (Doug) Winters, dearest friends close by her side Seretta Maxwell, Kevin Taylor, Joe Leach, Cheryl Hanks, and Grace Goostree, and extended family members Jane Bruckert-Olson and Caroyl “The Nana” Vanderbeck among many more than it would ever be possible to list.

The Nashville Zoo at Grassmere is located at 3777 Nolensville Pike, Nashville, Tenn., 37211. Bring your hugs, favorite memories, and copies of photos to share.

Linda regularly enjoyed fresh flowers from her husband and loved ones during her life. In her memory now, donations may be made to two organizations that most impacted her life: The Nashville Zoo at Grassmere or The Alzheimer’s Association. The family’s gratitude is extended to the staff of Claiborne & Hughes Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Alternative Cremation and Funeral Services of Franklin.