Linda J. Deiro

Linda was a beloved mother, sister, grandmother, and friend who will be missed by all who knew her.

Linda was born in Reading, PA to Jeanette and Edwin Fairchild. Linda was raised in Reading where she was a competitive roller skater and a majorette at Muhlenberg High School. As a young adult she worked as an X-ray technician at various hospitals including Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, where she would later undergo her treatment for cancer.

Linda was married in 1968, to Peter, and had a daughter, Jessica in 1973. While her marriage to Peter was short, they remained very close friends until his death in 1996. Linda worked and raised her daughter, while attending Fordham University where she graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 1978. Linda worked as a medical and corporate recruiter before opening her own Executive Search company. Linda reluctantly retired from the Executive Search business in 2017.

Linda loved music and loved to dance. At the age of 60 she was able to fulfill a long time wish to learn how to Salsa dance. Linda would dance many nights a week with friends, many of whom were more than half her age. She took classes almost 5 days a week and even started helping to teach beginner classes filling in the male dance roles when there were not enough men in the classes. In 2011 Linda had to stop dancing due to other health issues.

Linda helped raise her grandson Julian when he and Jessica returned from California in 2009. For most of Julian’s life, Linda acted as a constant and reliable parent, helping raise and care for him. She loved to watch him play baseball and she would take him to every practice when he was too young to go by himself and she never missed a game!

Beginning in 2018, Linda had a long journey with cancer undergoing surgery, immunotherapy, and multiple clinical trials. During the many clinical trials in which she participated her sense of altruism was strong. She was always willing to have one more test, talk to one more person, or complete one more survey for the sake of science if she thought her experience could possibly help the next person battling this terrible disease.

During her younger years Linda was a civil and women’s rights activist and marched in Washington DC in protest of war and in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. Linda was passionate about a woman’s right to choose and access to safe medical care for ALL women. She was a consistent supporter of Planned Parenthood and her family would like to remain true to her. To honor Linda’s unwavering sense of social justice please donate to Linda’s Planned Parenthood Fundraiser at https://bit.ly/DeiroDonation

A memorial service for Linda will be held Saturday, November 11, 2023 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Joseph G. Duffy, 255 Ninth Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.josephgduffy.com for the Deiro family.