Obituary of LINDA JOY STEARNS

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LINDA JOY STEARNS

Linda Joy Stearns (née Kull) passed away peacefully in her home at the age of 76 years young. When she passed, she was in the arms of her husband of nearly 53 years, Eric Sr.

Linda was predeceased by her parents Eileen and Ernie Kull of Winnipeg. She will always be lovingly remembered by her husband Eric Sr.; children Eric Jr., Kevin (Karrie) and Timmy (Laura); her grandchildren Blake, Bennett, Hailey, Augustus, Madden, Flora and Tay; siblings Noraleen (Terry), Ernie (Melody), Murray (Ruth), Penny, and Martin; her Uncle Don, Auntie Pat, and Auntie Marg; her many cousins; countless nieces and nephews; and her dear friends Lorraine and Michelle.

Linda was born January 6, 1947, in Winnipeg and was the oldest of 6 siblings. She attended Elmwood High School where she began dating her high school sweetheart Eric; they have been together ever since.

Linda was a trained nurse who earned her Licensed Practical Nurse diploma from St. Boniface Hospital in 1966. She started her nursing career at St. B. where she soon took on the role of a Registered Nurse which necessitated further training. After entering the Registered Nurse Program at the old Victoria General Hospital Linda graduated as an R.N. in 1970 where she received the “Proficiency in Bedside Nursing” award for her graduating class.

Linda continued working at St. B. before taking a job at the old Concordia Hospital near the La Salle Hotel. She eventually began working two blocks from her home at Park Manor Personal Care Home in Transcona. During this time, she had her three boys Eric Jr., Kevin, and Timmy all while putting her husband Eric through graduate school and medical school. It was never a question – she had the more challenging job.

Mom retired from nursing at a young age shifting focus to raising her three boys. She managed a very busy home and could be seen at any of the hockey rinks, soccer fields, football fields, ski hills or baseball diamonds in and around Winnipeg, often in a vehicle with more kids than seats, all the while keeping an open door to friends and family in her home. With three boys close in age she soon became a very well-known and loved mother in Transcona.

Linda and Eric began spending weekends and summers at the family cabin at Malachi Ontario in 1972. The cabin was a focal point for the family and provided her and the family with endless adventures. Mom would often take her three boys without her husband to Malachi by train to a small and leaky cabin with no running water, phone, or electricity, lit only by Coleman lanterns limited to cooking on a wood burning stove. Although never considered a risk taker, once the train stopped running to Malachi (not long after the family built a new cabin across the lake), she would again load up her vehicle with more people than seats for the journey that required a drive down an old logging road to get to the lake. Mom would drive her vehicle through deep water and up hills that often took multiple attempts to get up only to complete the journey by boat, often in the dark, to get everyone to the cabin safely. Mom always did this with a smile on her face the entire time.

Once her youngest son was in high school, Linda began taking courses in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Manitoba. She worked incredibly hard and would maintain a grade point average above 4.0. She was at the top of her class in most of the courses she took, including some very challenging chemistry courses. She would eventually put her studies aside to take on the role of Granny and to assist her aging parents.

There are no words, acts or actions capable of expressing the magnitude of the loss suffered by our family; Linda (Bones), Mom, Mum, Granny, Gran, Auntie, sister, friend was the keeper of the family history, infinitely knowledgeable and the most generous, gentle, supportive, caring, sincere and non-judgemental person you could have the honour to know, and she will be so dearly and irreplaceably missed by those who were touched by her grace.

On behalf of the Boys, their families, and everyone else who knew Linda, we need to say a very special thank you to our Dad (Eric-Lew/Pops/Popsy/Papa/Uncle Eric/Dr. Stearns). When Linda became unwell in 2019, Dad put aside all aspects of his life to focus on looking after Mom’s every need while spending all his time by her side. The true extent of the care he provided became clear to many when he spent nearly 12 hours a day, everyday for the last 3 months by Mom’s side in Selkirk Hospital. Dad only left Mom’s side to work a handful of times. We feel at peace knowing that with his medical knowledge and the moment-by-moment attention, Dad clearly provided Mom with the best quality of life possible. Knowing you were holding Mom and speaking to her while she passed provides immense solace to everyone.

Linda’s family would like to offer a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Barry MacMillan, Dr. David Kinsley, Dr. Atheer Al-Kaali, Dr. Alla Kirshner, Dr. Richard Lui, Eduward Tiaglei, Marcy Anderson, and the countless nurses and support staff that helped Linda while she was unwell.

Linda’s Celebration of Life will be held at Cropo Funeral Chapel (1800 Day St.) on Friday, October 13, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. (If you have something pink, please wear it, pink was Mom’s favourite colour). There will be a reception afterwards with the interment to follow at Transcona Cemetery. Mom’s pallbearers will be Eric Stearns Sr., Eric Stearns Jr., Kevin Stearns, Timmy Stearns, Augustus Stearns, Blake Stearns, Bennett Stearns, Bill Stearns, and Madden Shmon. Her honorary pallbearers are Noraleen Bertrand, Ernest Kull, Murray Kull, Penny Dettman, Martin Kull, Cameron Dettman.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Linda’s memory to her favourite cause, the Winnipeg Humane Society.