Linn Sorge, 71, of DeKalb, Illinois, passed away Sunday, December 24, 2023, at Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb with friends at her side.

She was born July 10, 1952, in Richland Center, Wisconsin, daughter of Renard (Bud) and Ruth (Goodwiler) Sorge. Blind since birth, Linn spent her first four years happily playing and exploring on the family farm, which instilled in her a life-long love of nature and animals.

When Linn reached school age, her parents sold the farm and moved to Janesville so Linn could attend the Wisconsin School for the Blind where she quickly came to love her teachers and new friends. The school provided her an excellent education. Linn was an avid braille reader before finishing first grade and began taking piano lessons at age 6. Her piano teacher was also blind, so Linn learned to read braille music from a very early age, too. Linn remained highly involved in the music program throughout her schooling, taking private instrument and piano lessons, participating in musical ensembles and clubs, and pursuing several advanced music courses in high school, such as music theory, history, and arranging.

Linn earned an undergraduate degree in music education with a major in piano from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a master's degree from Northern Illinois University in teaching the visually impaired. Linn was a coordinator for the service unit for persons with disabilities at NIU for over 20 years, most of them alongside her best friend, Sue Reinhardt. Linn then went on to be a full-time instructor at the Hadley School for the Blind where she taught online adaptive technology, social skills for blind children, and braille music courses for nearly 20 more years.

Linn organized the first-ever benefit folk concerts for the Hadley School for the Blind, inviting musicians Anne Hills and David Roth to perform in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011 in programs called "Spring from Darkness into Light," projects that meant a great deal to her.

In the late 1990s, Linn learned loom weaving at the Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles, Illinois. She said, "It was challenging to figure out ways to create complex braille weaving patterns and work out techniques so that I could do the entire weaving process independently," but figure it out she did. And after learning about color theory, Linn began to think of colors as music, which was a way for her to blend her two favorite arts.

Linn's love of weaving grew into her organizing week-long classes at Fine Line for others who are blind or visually impaired. Linn created the patterns, made braille and large print handouts for the other participants, and assisted the weaving instructor. These courses have run nearly every summer since 2009 and have involved about a dozen student weavers, many returning year after year.

Linn loved the ocean and the beach and amassed an amazing seashell collection. She made many trips to the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key, Florida, to swim with dolphins and experience them up close. It was with the dolphins, perhaps more than anywhere else, that Linn's joy was absolutely contagious.

Linn was preceded in death by her father, Renard, and her dear friend, Sue Reinhardt.

She is survived by her mother, Ruth; three stepsiblings; a half-sister; uncles; aunts; cousins; and many friends who have become like family to her.

A celebration of life will be held at a future date.

Donations in Linn's honor can be made to Fine Line Creative Art Center, 37W570 Bolcum Road, St. Charles, IL 60175 or fineline.org

To sign the online guest book, go to www.butalafuneralhomes.com