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Ms. Linda D. Tomlinson, RN, MSN, 64 of Elkhart, passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 20, 2021 at her home surrounded by family.
She was born in Elkhart on January 29, 1957 to the late Herbert and Doris (Blackwell) Greene and is survived by her daughters Rachael (Chris) Huffman and Jennifer (Mauricio) Sanchez, both of Elkhart; brothers Steven (Brenda) Greene of Hampshire, Illinois and Craig (Johana) Greene of Goshen; grandchildren Lydia, Olivia, Chelsee, Gabrielle and Christian; and nieces and nephews Justin Othick and Sarah (Brett), Traden and Marshall Ballenger.
Billings Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Elkhart are honored to assist the Tomlinson family with Linda’s arrangements. A memorial service has been scheduled there for Friday, December 3, 2021 at 2:00 pm with visitation taking place one hour prior. Billings Funeral Home Chaplain Jeremy Sarber will officiate.
Linda graduated from Elkhart Central High School and was employed at Whitehall Laboratories in Elkhart until their unfortunate close. It was then, she chose to pursue her calling and earned her Associates Degree in Nursing at Southwestern Michigan College and then, along with her daughter, Rachael, obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing at IUSB. She went on to earn her Master of Science in Nursing from Phoenix University in 2004 and was nearing completion of her Family Nurse Practitioners certification when she was diagnosed with brain cancer. She valued education and enjoyed her opportunity to be an instructor in the IUSB Nursing Program, where she loved her interactions with her students and watching them learn. She worked as a Registered Nurse the majority of her career at various area medical facilities, including Elkhart General Hospital and the Elkhart OSMC, and treasured having had the ability to help others. It was quite obvious that her altruistic personality lent well to her profession.
At home, she had a more relaxed attitude and loved to spend time with her family and grandchildren. She enjoyed listening to oldies, fishing and was always making updates to her the house and keeping her flower garden in tip-top shape. She was proud of the home that she had shared with one of her daughters and the grands, and it showed with the love that she regularly poured into it. She also enjoyed attending family reunions and looked forward to making that trip each summer. She was quite artistically talented and enjoyed drawing, painting and especially working with clay, as she had a potter’s wheel and a kiln that came in handy when her creative urges called.
Finally, it simply MUST be mentioned that Linda was a devout fan and aficionado of the movie classic “The Sound Of Music”, and for her it was one of those movies that you can never watch too many times. She loved all of the songs; from “The Lonely Goatherd” to “Edelweiss” to “Climb Every Mountain”, and she always kept a special place in her heart for Maria and the Von Trapp family!
The family wishes to extend their sincere thanks to Heartland Hospice. Memorial donations may be given to the family. Please feel free to leave condolences and memories on Linda’s obituary page at the funeral home’s website. After completion of the service a rebroadcast will be available online for those unable to attend.
It is once again Late November/Early December and we are gathered together to lay to rest one of the Herbert Greene Jr. family. For whatever reason God calls us to him at about the same time of year. Mom and Dad were the first and now he has called our beloved Sister, Neice, Mother, and Friend. Linda Dollene Greene Gerschoffer Tomlinson.
The last two years have been a challenging for us all with the outbreak of Covid, and we have all lost loved ones, but it is good to see the family and friends that have been able to make the trip to honor Linda and support our family. And we would also like to say Welcome to the family and friends who are watching via the internet. And we send our Love and Appreciation for all you have done for Linda and her family over these many years. She Loved you all deeply, and I know she is looking down from heaven with a huge smile and a warm heart.
So on behalf of Rachael, Jennifer, Myself, Craig, Scott, Brenda, Justin, Olivia, Chelsee, Gabrielle, Lydia, Sarah, Traden, Marshall, Clell, and Aunt Kathy, Diane, Mike, Brian, Sheryl, Greg and their families, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for all of you who have helped and supported Linda and her family throughout her Journey through Life. And for your invaluable guidance, Love, and prayers at this time of grief and sorrow. But there is also Joy and Happy-ness in the knowledge that Linda is now in the hands of God who has healed all sadness and ailments.
Linda was born on January 29, 1957 at Elkhart General Hospital to a young family who immediately fell in Love with her. She was forever Daddy’s girl, and dad could not do enough to make her happy. We did find out quickly that Linda was the very definition of a “Free Spirit”. Linda would follow her path, and do it unapologetically. Linda loved her toys and dolls but was an adventurer as well. She was right there when we, as kids, imagined great deeds and travels throughout the world. She had the greatest imagination, and was always a joy to be around, as long as you treated her with respect. Linda could be the equivalent of the “Tasmanian Devil” if you P---ed her off! She would tolerate her brother’s teasing and general abuse for only so long. You would see it building insider her and all at once, BAM! She would be a flurry of fists and kicks and more than once we had to call upon Mom or Dad to step in and save us. They would always say, “boys you need to treat your sister with kindness and respect and if you don’t she’s going to beat the snot out of you!” I believed them at an early age!
We often talked about the house on the hill that we lived in when we were in Minneapolis. We loved attending “Uncle Lorne’s” daycare, and everyday was as a blur of sights and sounds and fun. It instilled in us our family’s experiences, lessons, and of course sense of humor without even knowing it was happening. It was an extension of the Love they had experienced growing up on the farm in Minnesota and we couldn’t help but take it all in.
Linda was also the apple of her Pappy and uncle Clell’s eyes. They lived far away in Texas but they always stayed in touch and were most happy when they could hear the news about what Linda was doing and enjoying every day. Linda loved to travel, probably due to all the trips Mom and Dad took. We took the train all the way from Elkhart, through St. Louis, and then on to San Antonio. We made this trip three times I believe. Each trip was a grand adventure, full of bustling cities, and people. Linda loved it. She got her love of warm weather down in Texas, and would talk about all the fun we had when visiting Pappy, Clell, and Dollene long after we had returned home to Elkhart. We got our fireworks education while we were visiting Del Rio. We would save our money to buy some fire crackers, and bottle rockets and loved shooting them off at night. We learned quickly that you had to throw the fire cracker before the fuse burned very far. Many times we were crying after our fingers got some gunpowder love from waiting too long. Linda would shake it off quickly and be right back out there blowing things up. Linda, Craig, and I all three also learned a valuable lesson about chili pepper plants. Pappy had a large chili pecinne plant in his back yard. It would have small flowers and red chili peppers on it. It looked safe enough, but Mom and Dad would say, “make sure you don’t touch the plant”. Did we listen?? No.
We picked some leaves and flowers then touched our face. Needless to say the reaction was immediate. Crying and running around in circles while mom tried to wash the toxins from our eyes/face. We learned that lesson painfully. Later in life we would find we actually liked eating those same hot peppers, much like our grandpa Pappy. As members of a Texas Ranger Family we also learned to ride horses and shoot. Mom made sure we could ride, and we would go to a local stable around Elkhart and ride the trails. Linda Loved horses and Loved to ride. She seemed very comfortable in the saddle as did her mother. We had some ornery horses who didn’t want to cooperate, but they seemed to calm down when Linda was atop them. Linda was also a crack shot with a gun, but was a bit put off by the loud boom. She never wanted to be left out of anything that we were up to.
Later in our childhood, Linda and I got to fly to Minneapolis to go and stay on the farm. It was a great trip and we felt so important flying by ourselves. The flight attendants were very nice and loved having Linda on the plane. They would come by and ask Linda how she was doing, and if she wanted to go and see the galley with them. They were also very interested in the fact that we were going to be picked up by “Lorne Greene”! Even as kids we knew about Bonanza, and tried to explain that it wasn’t THAT lorne greene.. They didn’t care, they accompanied us to the gate Just In Case. I believe uncle Larry was the one who drew the short straw to come and pick us up. That trip to Minnesota was one Linda and I never forgot. We got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa, Walt and Marcie, and Lorne and Bonnie while we were there. We got to go fishing, play in the barn with our cousins, drive the tractor, hang out in the kitchen with Grandma, and get to know our aunts and uncles who still lived on the farm. Don’t get me wrong, we did miss Mom and Dad, but it was soo special to be part of the life on the farms. Our perspective on life was forever changed by that trip.
As we grew up Linda had quite a few interests. Linda loved to go sledding, probably since there is not much else to do during the winter. We would all load up the car and head to Michigan to a very large hill we knew of. We would load as many people as we could onto the sled, inner tube, or toboggan and zoom down the hill laughing our butts off. Linda almost got squashed when the whole bunch of kids landed on her at the bottom of the hill. It took a couple of minutes for her to catch her breath but we eventually got her back on her feet and she was ready to go again!
Linda loved camping with Dad and Mom. Partially since Dad would bring the experimental units he was working on to try out. They were always fun to camp in. There was the “don’t use the bathroom” rule, so Dad would pick a camp ground and we would go in and see what the bathrooms looked like. Many a time we just turned around and went to another camp ground because the bathroom didn’t meet his standards and Linda’s. Pokagen State Park is where we spent most of the time camping. At that time Mom and Dad would just open the door in the morning and say, “we don’t want to see you until lunch.” Now a days we would have ended up on a Milk Carton I’m sure. But we spent endless hours walking the trails and exploring the park. Linda’s love of the outdoors began there I’m sure.
We also took a trip up to Holland Michigan and Ludington. We got to climb the Sleeping Bear Dunes and I think all three of us kids got to eat about 3 lbs. of sand when we face planted while trying to run down the dunes. That trip was special for so many reasons, but spending it with Linda and the family is what it was all about.
Most summers we were signed up for summer tennis camp at the park district to keep us busy and get us some exercise. Linda really enjoyed playing tennis. It was great fun to go out and hit tennis balls in the bright sunshine and fresh air. Linda also followed Mom in playing softball. Of course we were all three part of Mom’s team as managers and bat kids. Linda played softball at the little league and was a credit to her mother. Linda would also get out in the side yard and play in the pickup baseball games we played. She also would participate in our football games that we would play every fall. We had an annual game on Thanksgiving we called “the toilet bowl”. Rain or shine we would get out there and throw the football around. It did help that my cute friends would come over and play. Linda was happy to mix it up with them on the field. Linda also loved the family water fights. In the summer when it was hot we would get a bunch of balloons and fill them with water and chase each other around getting everyone and everything wet. More than once the fight would devolve into the house much to the shagreen of Dad who as I have said before called us, “his crazy assed family”. We wore that title with pride!
Linda also talked me into taking Judo and Yoga at the park district. We twisted and bent our bodies in Yoga which she was much better at than I. She could look graceful while doing yoga, but I just mainly groaned in pain. Linda took great pleasure and pride that she was able to throw me in Judo class. Once again I will remind you about Linda’s “Tasmanian Devil” tendencies. She, on more than one occasion, displayed her super powers. But she was reluctant to do so in public. She once was attacked at home, and was pinned on the floor. The intruder had a knife and cut Linda’s hand. This started Linda’s adrenaline pump and she literally threw the attacker across the room and on top of the coffee table with ease. The woman could defend herself! Linda also dearly loves children, and will protect them without fear. I have seen her step in during a very heated argument involving her young niece and deliver a blow with her knee and extract the child in the blink of an eye! You would have had to have seen it to believe it! She was my super hero!
She also kept me from getting a bigger head than we Greenes already have.. I was in high school and feeling pretty confident in my social “coolness”. One morning while walking to chemistry class I walked by the art classes where Linda had class to say hi to her. As we did during the day usually. She was working on a very detailed drawing involving thousands of dots put together to form the drawing and she told me to have a good day. When I was leaving the class room I looked to the left in the display case and there was a chalk drawing that seemed very familiar. Upon further examination I realized that it was a copy of probably my worst school picture that I had ever had. It involved a blue cardigan and one or two of my teeth missing. A wonderful look to be sure. I about passed out! How could she have done that? Especially without me noticing it? I went storming back in! “What the heck were you thinking?” I asked her. She was very aloof, and said” What do you mean?” “There is a copy of my picture in the display case!” I responded. She said, “I know I drew it, Do you like it?” with a wide smile on her face. “I got an A”. I demanded she remove the drawing, to which she burst our laughing and said, “Good luck with that!” “It’s in the display case!” I received quite a bit of grief from my friends, Charlie LaBauw, and Jim McNeile, but to tell you the truth I have grown to like the piece. She was and amazing artist. She also was able to master a potters wheel, which I could only manage to get clay all over my clothes with. She was patient with me but eventually had to step in and take over after about a hour of messing around. All I managed to make was an ash tray.
Linda learned on her own schedule, she mainly stayed with Art and Humanities through high school. After that she attended the Univ. of El Paso’s art school with her first husband Steve Gerschoffer. She really enjoyed the time in El Paso and was disappointed when she had to return home. But she was not disappointed with the reason for returning though. Rachael was on the way. A glorious reason for a life style change.
Linda then began the task of mother and provider. She started a job at Whitehall which was just down the street from their house. Linda took in all the knowledge she was exposed to and eventually became a Mechanic on the Production Line. A very important role in the company. After a few years Whitehall decided to pickup and move to Puerto Rico. After some arm twisting by the Union, Whitehall had to set up a retraining fund for the employees that were affected by the move. Linda took this opportunity to start Nursing School at S.W. Michigan College. At the beginning Linda would call me for help with her chemistry, and some human physiology questions, etc. But before too long she was doing it all on her own, and helping me when I needed it! Quite a change from the Art and Humanities that she went with in high school. Dad was always very amazed and impressed with Linda’s grit and determination after returning to school. She was also able to secure funds for Rachael to attend Nursing School through the Whitehall reeducation fund. They both then got their Associates Degree at the same time from Nursing School. Both Rachael and Linda then graduated from I. U. South Bend Nursing School with their RN bachelors degree in Nursing. Such an accomplishment! But Linda was not done yet, she then pursued a Masters in Nursing from the Univ. of Phoenix. We all took a trip to Arizona via Texas to celebrate and to visit uncle Clell who was SOOO proud of Linda! We got to visit the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame during that trip. Linda really enjoyed that trip and all the stuff we did and seeing Pappy’s name in the pictures and records.
During that time period I was diagnosed with Colon cancer and had to have part of my descending colon removed. Linda and Rachael both came up for the surgery. After I returned to the room Linda and Rachael basically took over the room and my care. I was a bit out of it.. no actually I was REALLY out of it but they knew exactly what to do. Linda was teaching at the Nursing School at that time and actually asked the surgeon if she could have the section of colon that they took out to take back and show her students.. Quite the show and tell day that would have been! The surgeon apologized and explained that besides the fact that it was a Biohazard (Linda didn’t really care!) and that they needed it for follow up biopsy’s. I couldn’t have felt more lucky and safe while I recovered having them both there.
It was soon after that we learned Linda had the brain tumor. Linda had been suffering from extreme head aches and Mom forced her doctor to run the CAT scan to see what the problem might be. The news was grim.
She had a glioblastomic brain tumor and she only had 6 -9 months to live. We all began the journey through all the hospital stays, treatments, and therapies she had to endure. Initially they told us that something was really wrong with Linda. She would not focus on them when they were trying to talk to her in her room. She was in the ICU recovery ward at Elkhart General. The same floor that she worked on as an advanced nurse. When I visited I noticed that she was watching everything that was going on at the nursing station desk which she could see from her room. That is why she wasn’t paying attention to them when they were talking to her. She was still, and ever would be, a Nurse. Trying to help and heal anyone placed in her care. She would carry on with this no matter if she was at home and reviewing her medicines she was prescribed or if she was in a nursing home and was concerned about what was causing various patients distress. “That lady needs some help.” She would tell me.
Right after Linda finished Radiation treatments I decided to give her a special trip. Linda was an avid fisherman, and loved nothing better than grabbing her bass boat and heading to a fishing contest for a day of fun. So I decided to book a fishing charter on lake Michigan with some of my friends from work. I showed up to break Linda out of jail, and Mom found out what the plot was. She did not agree with the choice and used about all the curse words that she knew to let me know how she felt. Linda was concerned with making mom mad but I told mom to take a flying leap. We went to Chicago and had quite a day on the water. It was cloudy, and a bit windy.
The waves were 3-4 ft. when we pulled out of Waukegan Harbor at dawn. We were bundled up but it was chilly. It got rough enough that when Linda had to go to the bathroom below deck, we both got sea sick and almost puked within 5 min. We did quite well that day and limited out fairly quickly. As always Linda’s guardian angel made it special. The waves had picked up and we were getting tossed around pretty well. Linda and I were sitting on the coolers near the steering control area and one of my friend’s kid was standing with a pole trying to reel in a fish. Suddenly the boat pitched way down and then launched suddenly up. We all got air.. The kid almost went overboard, but they managed to grab him by the back of his pants and dragged him back in. We soon reached our limit and headed in to the harbor. Once back we docked and had to climb about 8 ft. up on a ladder since the lake was down at that point in time. I had already climbed out and was trying to help Linda climb up. One of my friends reached up and gave Linda a push to help her up. Once at the top Linda turned around and said, “Which one of you grabbed my ass?” They were all stuttering, when she said “Thank you, I will have to tell my physical therapist I got some action”. They rolled on the floor with laughter. Linda had an amazing sense of humor, much like Grandma.
Linda was the ultimate provider. She put a roof over her girl’s heads, gave them an education, and even bought a house for Mom to live in. She got comfort that Mom was safe. She never stood still and was always working on the house, yard, and garden. She Loved the riding lawn mower, and could be seen zooming back and forth trimming the grass. She dreamed big, I believe it came from her Texas Heritage- “Everything is Bigger from Texas”. Dad would come over and help her make her ideas come true. That meant a lot to Linda, and she was the reason our family was reconnected after some troubling times that we went through. Linda had a way to heal hearts and mend fences to make things right in her head and heart, which was as big as all out doors.
I will miss my sister, confidant, and mentor every minute of every day as will all of you. They only gave her 6-9 months to live when she was first diagnosed. She fought through every treatment, therapy, and setback with grace and strength. She brought herself back to a fully functional life and was able to live on her own again. But she couldn’t have done it without all the support she got from her family at every stage of her fight with cancer. From Craig coming in and staying with her when she got out of the hospital and Mom trying her best to make it all work, to Rachael and the girls taking care of Linda over the last few years. You could tell that Linda was still all there. She was trapped in a body that wouldn’t do what she so desperately wanted to do. Get up and live her life. We would do a Facetime call with her and she would grab the Ipad and smile while we would talk to her. She knew it was us to be sure. Linda ultimately is stronger than all of us. Her neurosurgeon called her “His Miracle”, and would CAT scan her head every so often. When asked why, he said, “I want to know why she is still alive”. He told us that she was a bonified GENIUS, and that anything less would have not been able to recover the way she did. I believe him. Ultimately she lasted 12 yrs. Pretty good odds in Vagas. We should have placed that bet way back when. The lesson for us all NEVER BET AGAINST LINDA!
She is part of our very beings. She was our compass, guiding us in the right direction, whether we knew it or not. I know there is only the massive hole left in us by her loss, but over time with all the memories and our mutual Love of Linda we will heal that hole. Forever scarred but able to move forward knowing that someday we will be reunited with someone so special and loving incarnate in Linda and her soul. We all need to take the time to think “How would Linda take care of this?” Listen closely and she will always give you the answers you need. May the Lord Bless You and Keep You.
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