Written by Gabriel Huff // Photo provided by Jeff Montgomery
Family and friends mourned and celebrated the life of Lindy Ingram, 60, after she died unexpectedly on Dec. 31, 2022.
A Harding graduate, Ingram earned her bachelor’s degree in business systems analysis from the University in 1984, later obtaining a Master of Business Administration in 2015. She had served as a board of trustees member since 2019.
“Lindy brought a deep connection to, and love for, Harding in her service on the board,” board of trustees chairman Charles Ganus said. “She worked hard at being a strong, well-prepared board member. As with all members of the board, Lindy wanted Harding to be an outstanding Christian university.”
Born May 23, 1962, Ingram grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She worked as the co-owner, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Lone Star Behavioral Health, a psychiatric hospital in Texas.
She served as a certified medical compliance officer and certified nonviolent physical crisis intervention instructor. She was also involved in her community of Magnolia, Texas, and Woodland Oaks Church of Christ in Woodlands, Texas.
“She was extremely generous to people in need, people she loved and her family,” Cindi Ingram, assistant director of the Center for Professional Excellence and Lindy Ingram’s daughter-in-law, said. “If somebody had a need, she was the first person to give to it. … One of the common phrases that we’ve used is ‘larger than life.’ She just accomplished so much.”
Ingram had deep roots in Camp Wyldewood, a year-round Christian camp in Searcy, where she had been a camper, counselor and board member, Wyldewood executive director Chad Hudelson said. Caleb Ingram, the second oldest of Ingram’s three children, serves on the camp’s board.
Hudelson remembered Ingram as a tough and fair business person, particularly recalling the time she and her husband bought the Wyldewood Retreat Center in 2019. Throughout the negotiation process, Ingram ensured the purchase was beneficial to the camp. The sale ended up helping the camp throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
“I think she was able in her business dealings, at least from the times I dealt with her, she was somebody who still carried her Christian faith with her in her business dealings,” Hudelson said.
Cindi Ingram, who is married to Ingram’s oldest son Logan, said her parents-in-law helped begin Woodland Oaks Church of Christ, where she first met their family as a child and witnessed the big heart Ingram possessed.
“One of my first memories of her: My family moved from California to Texas when I was 13, and we started going to the church that her and her husband, my father-in-law, had kind of helped start,” Cindi Ingram recalled. “So we were new to the area. We had just moved away from all of our family, and she invited us over for Christmas.”
Cindi Ingram said her mother-in-law made what could have been a difficult day a precious memory for her family.
Lindy Ingram is survived by her spouse, Nathan Ingram; her mother, Nancy Lunceford; her three children, Logan, Caleb and Carter; and nine grandchildren.
A visitation and celebration was held in her honor Jan. 6 at Woodland Oaks Church of Christ. In lieu of flowers, people can give to the University or Camp Wyldewood.
