Linda Eiting was born on November 10, 1947, in David City, Neb. She attended grade school and junior high at St. Mary’s, and high school at Aquinas, both in David City. After graduation she moved to Lincoln and received a degree in business from the Lincoln School of Commerce. She married Len Sloup in August 1969.
Len and Linda raised two children in Lincoln, Jill born in 1974, and Tim born in 1979. Together they instilled their children with a strong sense of faith, solid values and a deep love and appreciation for family. Jill and Tim received a Catholic education at Blessed Sacrament and Pius X schools and were enthusiastically supported every step of the way.
In October 1988, Linda suffered the first of two cerebral hemorrhages – the rupturing of a main artery in the brain causing swelling and damage. She spent weeks undergoing extensive care at Lincoln General Hospital and then began her long journey towards a full recovery after transferring to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.
The brain trauma temporarily left Linda with balance difficulties and without short-term memory. Over the course of constant rehabilitative therapies, Linda re-learned how to walk and spent many hours focused on revitalizing and relearning cognitive, speech and occupational skills.
After months of rehabilitation under medical care, Linda left the protective wing of Madonna and continued along the road to recovery with family and good friends as solid support structures. Days were often tough, as the natural healing process that occurs after a brain injury is much more complex and harder to understand than other injuries of the body. She experienced bouts of loneliness, frustration and anxiety; she lost friendships and relationships changed.
Despite the uncertainty, Linda never ceased offering the very qualities others so cherished in her. She unleashed a new attitude and perspective on life, gained by having been so close to death. Each day, Linda met her challenges with courage, perseverance and love. Surrounded and encouraged by her family, Linda greeted the mornings with a firm resolve to overcome her daily battles, and she did, all while enriching the lives of those she met and those she already knew each step of the way.
With the odds against her, Linda made a full and complete mental and physical recovery. Her children were her treasures and with her second chance at life, she embraced each day serving her most beloved role as a mother. Linda closely held her children’s hearts and hand-in-hand with Len, met Jill and Tim’s milestones, both mundane and monumental, with joy. She jumped enthusiastically into new activities serving her family, friends and church, and even exchanged some of the many intangible gifts given to her during her recovery by volunteering at Madonna. She was loved and cherished by all, and was honored by Madonna as one of the first recipients of the patient Goal Award, recognizing outstanding rehabilitative accomplishments.
Her time was short-lived however. Linda experienced her second and final cerebral hemorrhage in 1998. The magnitude of the trauma was great, and after nearly two weeks at Bryan Memorial Hospital undergoing three brain surgeries, having constant vigils by physicians and nurses and countless prayers and visits, Linda met the Lord on Easter Sunday. Even in death, her legacy of love and giving lives on, not only in the hearts and minds of all who knew her, but in the bodies of the recipients of her donated organs, who live in Nebraska and around the country. Linda is survived by her husband, Len; daughter, Jill Nolton; son, Tim; sister, Sandy Kocian; brothers Doug and Mark Eiting; seven nieces and nephews; five brothers and sisters-in-law; countless extended family members and friends.
In December of 2002, two life-long friends established the Linda Sloup Memorial Scholarship. They watched Linda maintain a positive attitude as she confronted life’s challenges, and wanted to honor her character, perseverance and faith. These friends knew how much Linda and Len valued Pius X and Catholic education, and also witnessed how the Pius X family lovingly responded when Linda had her second and fatal hemorrhage.
Linda, a mother of two Pius X graduates, left a lasting legacy by conquering life-altering obstacles with faith, humor and determination. She faced extreme challenges during the last ten years of her life and her unrelenting spirit and drive to overcome these challenges inspired those who knew her.
