In Memory of Kiki Dahll

Some of you already know that we lost a longtime member of the doll community on the 4th of July.  Linda Evans, known on social media as Kiki Dahll (her doll's name), had a major stroke on the 3rd, and passed away the next morning.

Click here to contribute to a Meal Train donation drive a local doll friend and close friend of the family set up.

Dolls at a local meetup at Denver's AG store, with Kiki the doll in front

I was lucky enough to live locally to Linda and call her a friend.  I didn't know her until after her husband got sick, so when I met her she was largely housebound, as she was his primary caregiver.  I met her during a local meetup at the American Girl store in Denver.  After a while it became too hard for her to leave her house very much, so we started holding our local gatherings and doll photoshoots at her house, and then during covid, in her backyard.  We would always come up a theme and bring dolls and props for a photoshoot.

Linda was a sweet, kind collector with a large, incredibly varied collection and an unapologetic love for dolls.  Her house was any doll lover's dream.  She had a beautiful bay window in her living room that overlooked the front porch, and she would set up scenes in the window.  She always had dolls on the mantle and the hearth in the living room, and often had a display on the coffee table too.  There was always a display in the dining area, and a Pottery Barn dollhouse in her sewing room.  The basement was set up with heavy duty garage shelving, with the shelves spaced to make doll rooms and displays.  Her house was a doll paradise and has heavily influenced my plans for my eventual dream house.

Linda had been battling cancer since late into the first year of the pandemic.  It was a hard battle, and there was a time when she really wasn't doing very well, as exhausted as she was by the treatments.  She'd been doing better lately though, and I'd come to look forward to her daily doll photos on Instagram and Facebook.  She'd also recently been blessed with a grandchild.

I'm glad Linda was able to spend her last months enjoying her dolls and her grandchild.  I'll always remember her house as a happy place, full of her restful energy and her love for dolls.  Her loss is a huge one to the doll community and she will be greatly missed.