Linda Bernice Steele Copley

Linda Bernice Steele Copley, 67, of Asheville, passed away peacefully in her home on June 5, 2026. Born on June 17, 1958, she was a resident of Asheville for the past 15 years.

Linda was preceded in death by her father, Dale Irwin Steele, who passed away in 1993; her mother, Bernice Kibala Steele, who passed away in 1975; and her nephew, Ben Steele.

She is survived by her brother Mike Steele and his wife Laurel of Mt. Dora, Florida; her brother Alfie Steele and his wife partner Heidi Metzger of Shephardstown, West Virginia; her niece Molly Steele and her husband Yohei Shiraishi of McKennlyville, California; and her niece Sara Steele and her husband partner Eytan Solomon of Brooklyn, New York.

Linda was diagnosed about 2 months ago with subcutaneous melanoma cancer. She was receiving immunotherapy and radiation treatments, and the oncologist was optimistic she could beat it. Unfortunately the cancer metastasized rapidly, and she was placed in hospice care at home. She was surrounded by friends and family at the end of her life. Although cancer is a very painful disease, she was not in pain when she passed. She had incredible courage, strength, and was not afraid of what was in front of her. She never shed a tear through this entire journey.

Dave, her husband, said Linda was the smartest person he has known. She had the ability to work with people on solving complicated problems in a way that everyone felt part of the team. She was always excited when her employer would provide a student work day. She would go to a school and help tutor students. That made her feel so proud.

Dave and Linda met through racing enduro motorcycles. Their first date was going to a professional motocross race at David Bailey’s Lake Sugartree MX park in Axton, VA on May 1st, 1988. They knew from that first date that they were soul mates. They married in 1990, and honeymooned at the “6 Days of Michigan” off-road motorcycle event. They had letters on the back of their helmets, Dave had “Honey” and Linda had “Mooners”. The week after that, they spent relaxing and jet skiing on Crystal Lake in Michigan. They had an A&W root beer in a frosty mug every night. On the last weekend of the vacation they were having lunch Saturday in Canada. They talked about going to the Beehive enduro race in South Jersey, which was the next day. Linda said if we leave now, we can make it there by nightfall, and be ready to race on Sunday. And they did in typical Dave and Linda fashion.

They continued to race enduros and hare scrambles through the early 90’s. Linda took up Jet Ski racing and competed all over the east coast and went to the World Jet Ski Finals in Lake Havasu Arizona in 1993 and 1994. After stopping the jet ski racing, Dave and Linda raced mountain bikes all over the east coast. Linda even went to the Masters World Finals race in Bromont Quebec in 2002.

 As a child her family always had a summer vacation. On one trip a young Linda told her Dad she wanted to marry a mountain man. She married a flatlander (Dave) in 1990, but her dream came true when they moved to Asheville in 2001. From that point to today, she has never looked back. Asheville was her new home and made her the happiest girl ever! 

Linda and Dave have traveled all over the US with the dogs and bicycles in their home made camper van. If it was only for a weekend, they would pack in all the fun that was available. They have embraced life and lived it to the fullest.

Linda worked at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland as a contractor working for CSC as a programmer. She developed programs for the Space Shuttle to process telemetry data into formats for the scientific user community. 1991 - 1995.

Linda worked for Smart House in Maryland as a software programmer to develop one of the first home automation systems. 1995 - 1997.

Linda worked at the USCG Aviation Logistics Center as a Senior Systems Analyst to provide programming support for the USCG maintenance and logistics system. She developed a corrosion mapping application to help identify critical corrosion locations prior to a major issue which could develop. That is still in use today. 1997 - 2010.

 Linda worked at NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). She was very passionate about her work at NOAA, and sustaining the future of our planet. The people she worked with know exactly what this means.

Linda said that she would retire on her 65th birthday, and did just that in 2023. This was the time to travel, play with her dogs, ride bikes and enjoy her life. And she did just that. Dave joined her in retirement in 2025. Together they fulfilled their dreams. They went camping, hiking, dog snuggling and biking. Linda called retirement “Just living”.

As for her love of people, animals, music, sports, competition, travel, and life, Dave could not have found a better soul mate! They share so many similar likes. It was never hard to decide what to do, it was figuring out how to squeeze it in. She had a few sayings that will be remembered forever: "Do it all" and "FOMO - Fear of missing out".

Linda played the violin a few years in elementary school but the orchestra program was cancelled. She picked up that same fiddle (her great Aunt’s) and started playing again in 2023. She took fiddle lessons from a local fiddler and became an accomplished bluegrass fiddle player. She would play in a jam once in a while, but preferred to play with close friends or at home for Dave and the dogs. She even purchased a travel fiddle for camping trips so she could play around the campfire.

They traveled to France in 2005. The first week they toured many of the museums of Paris, which was a dream come true for Linda. Then they participated in a 2 week bicycle tour through the French Alps, riding some of that year’s Tour De France routes. They climbed a total of 70,000 feet and rode over 700 miles.

In 2023 they traveled to Ireland on a music tour with Casey Driessen. This was a magical tour of Ireland where there was a jam every night at a different pub.

She called herself an introvert, but once she got to know you, she would open that big beautiful heart to you.

There are not enough words to express the love and support from family, friends, community and Four Season hospice. Special thanks go out to Mike Holt for supporting Linda and Dave through this phase of life.

A celebration of life service will be held at a later date, with details to be determined. Keep an eye on David’s Facebook page. It will be live streamed. The service will be officiated by the Rev. Clyde Denny. Burial will take place at Parker's United Methodist Church Cemetery in Corapeake, North Carolina. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.

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