A tireless advocate, fondly remembered

Linda Womack, a longtime lobbyist for Emory University and its health care operations, passed away Saturday night at age 63.

Linda Womack
Linda Womack

Womack started in government affairs 40 years ago, and worked for Emory for the last 15.

She was invariably courteous and knowledgeable, a fixture at important legislative hearings on health care.

Linda “was a person of class, conscientiousness and absolute integrity,’’ said Charlie Harman, an Emory vice president, on Sunday. “She had the issues exactly right. She called it like she saw it.”

Womack fell ill about three weeks ago “and fought very hard till the end,” Harman said.

David Tatum, a vice president of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, said Womack “was old school, dedicated and credible. A true steel magnolia who will be missed.”

Prior to joining Emory University, Womack served as state government regional manager for the Warner Lambert company, according to her Emory biography. She was a graduate of  Middle Georgia College and Georgia Southern University.