Linda Amstuz

Minden resident, 70
GRAND ISLAND - Linda Sue (Pickerill) Amstuz, 70, of Minden died Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021, at CHI Health St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island.
Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Minden United Methodist Church with the Rev. Peter Choi officiating. The service will be livestreamed to the church's YouTube and Facebook pages.
Interment will be held following services at the Minden Cemetery.
Visitation will be 4-6 p.m. Wednesday at Craig Funeral Home in Minden.
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Linda was born July 10, 1951, in Nebraska City to Vernon and Phyllis (Isaacs) Pickerill. Linda grew up on the family farm south of Unadilla with siblings, Lynn, Mary and Brenda.
Linda attended kindergarten-eighth grade in Unadilla before attending and graduating from Syracuse High School in May 1969. After high school she attended and graduated from Kearney State College in May 1972 with a degree in education.
She married Dennis Gordon Amstuz on Aug. 6, 1972, in Unadilla at the Unadilla Christian Church. They made their first home in Bladen where Linda taught fifth and sixth grade for four years. In the fall of 1975 they moved to Minden. Linda taught fifth grade in Holdrege at Franklin School from 1976 to 1978 before staying home to raise her three sons - Trent, Brett and Derek. Gordon and Linda lived in the same home in Minden for 39 years, before moving to their home in Minden West Estates in 2014.
Linda was a stay-at-home mom when her boys were young and enjoyed cheering for and helping with their many sporting events. During this time she was also a substitute teacher in Minden and surrounding schools. In 1992, Linda decided to pursue another profession and attended Central Community College to earn an associate degree in health care administration in 1994.
In 1995 she became the director of assisted living at St. Luke's Good Samaritan Village in Kearney. In January 2000, Linda became the director at Christian Homes in Holdrege. She retired in December 2017. Her kindness and empathy made her a perfect fit in this role - always caring and advocating for others. Linda was a charter member of the Nebraska Assisted Living Association (NALA), served as the Central Nebraska District president for five years and was on the NALA Board of Directors.
Linda enjoyed golfing, playing bridge, gardening, crafting, cooking and Husker football and volleyball. Linda was a member of the United Methodist Church and belonged to the United Methodist Women. Linda was a member of the Minden Country Club Ladies League from 1977 to 2019 and served on the Ladies League Committee many times. Linda enjoyed having a beautiful yard with many flowering trees and shrubs. She especially enjoyed planting the many pots that were around her home all spring and summer. She definitely had a green thumb!
Linda said her greatest joys were raising her three sons, the days her daughters-in-law joined their family, spending time with her beautiful grandchildren and her husband of 49 years. She always spent lots of time driving back and forth to Lincoln to attend her grandchildren's events - she never missed a recital or sports season. She and Gordon spent the last few winters in Arizona with friends and traveled to Seattle as often as possible to visit their sons, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
Linda is survived by her husband, Gordon; sons Trent and his wife Sarah of Lincoln, Brett of Seattle, Washington, and Derek and his wife Chelsea of Bremerton, Washington; grandchildren Stella and Peter Amstuz of Lincoln and Leona Amstuz of Bremerton, Washington; siblings Lynn (Edie) Pickerill of Unadilla, Mary Pickerill of Kearney and Brenda (Gayle) Schomerus of Syracuse; brothers-in-law Terry (Debbie) Amstuz of Greer, South Carolina, Troy Amstuz of Greer, South Carolina, and sister-in-law Deborah (Vernon) Williams of Laurens, South Carolina.
She was preceded in death by her parents, parents-in-law Oscar and Marjorie Amstuz and infant brother, James Earl.
Memorials in Linda's honor are kindly suggested to the Minden United Methodist Church.
Visit craigfunerals.com to leave condolences.