Linda Marie Harvey was born October 18, 1950. To Elsy and Donald Johnson. Donald always described her as a high spirited child. She loved her animals, Elsy’s garden, and riding her bike everywhere. I think it was during her childhood that she really developed a love for digging and finding treasures. She would ride her bike along the railroad tracks and along back roads and dig in the ground. She found all sorts of things, like arrowheads, crystals, fossils, and the odd assortment of pottery. She once said that one of her childhood dreams was to be an archeologist… the other was to be a racecar driver.
I’m pretty sure my Linda’s boundless energy led Elsy to put Linda into ALL the activities. She was a baton twirler, dancer, an artist and heavily involved in her church organization as a Rainbow Girl. When she wasn’t out and about and exploring her world she was with her mom. Linda was fairly young when her mom was diagnosed with cancer and she was her mom’s chemo buddy. She would drive into the city with her, stay with her relatives while Elsy got her medication, and then they would drive back together. I don’t think the finality of her mom’s cancer really fazed her until she passed away when she was 14. She never really was able to let go of the sadness of her mother’s loss and didn’t often speak of it. It was that year that she had to grow up very fast.
Donald worked on the Union Pacific Railroad and was often gone for long stretches of time. Mind you she was 14 and her brother just a few years older were home alone then to fend for themselves. They didn’t get along much and I think it was pretty terrible for her. She didn’t talk about this time much except to say that her brother had a lot of parties, and that she had to clean up after them. I think it speaks highly of her drive and motivation that she graduated from high school right on time in 1968. After high school she moved to Portland with my Grandfather and his new wife.
That arrangement didn’t last long, while Linda had a close relationship and Donald, she did not with his new wife. Linda moved into an apartment with friends. At the time she’d found a job and was working at the Oregon Bank in the Data Processing department. I don’t think she realized then how impactful that job was to become. It was also at about this time that she’d discovered (from her dentist!) that she had Type 1 Diabetes. She decided right then and there that her diabetes wasn’t going to control her life, and she never looked back. It was at the Oregon Bank that she first met Breanna’s dad and had Breanna. They eventually divorced but that didn’t slow Linda down one bit. She embraced single parenting and made sure that Breanna always had the things she needed.
She continued working for Oregon Bank during all the changes and mergers that came along (first Security Pacific, and finally Bank of America). It wasn’t until she’d been there nearly 40+ years that Bank of America eliminated her department and she was forced to take early retirement. I think this broke her heart bit. Thankfully she’d been volunteering heavily at the Rice Museum and Jane didn’t let her stay broken hearted for long. She hired Linda up quickly to be her assistant. She taught her a lot and after she left to pursue her own dreams, my mom stepped into her shoes as the museum’s director until another could be hired. She ended up staying in that position for several years.
Linda became a grandmother in 2010 to Riley and then again in 2016 to Robert. She would often be seen with them during her time as the museum director, and later as the volunteer coordinator. She was a very proud grandmother. She often took one of them or the other to various outings to help develop their love of rock hounding. It was also during her years at the museum that she met and fell in love with Bill Harvey who is the grandson of Richard and Helen Rice. Once they were married she could no longer have paid position at the museum and turned her energy towards becoming the Volunteer Coordinator.
Linda did a lot of things with her time, she became a Reike Master, she was an avid rock collector and rock hound traveling the world to find specimens. She’d traveled to South Africa, Spain, and Austraila she even became part owner of a a Rock Claim up at Spruce. She also joined, built up membership, and took leadership roles in many of the clubs associated with fossils, rocks, gems, and minerals. Linda also took time to help and connect with others. She loved people and being around people. She loved introducing others to rocks and collecting. Linda lived life to the fullest and wanted to get the most out of her time here. She’d want others to know that having a chronic illness isn’t what defines you it is what you do despite it that counts.
Linda is and will be missed by her family and friends. Her kindness and givingness to others was wide reaching. If you were lucky enough to know her, you were loved by her.
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