The Season of Giving: One person’s life touches so many others

By Christopher Miller

This is a story about a woman’s love for humanity and a community coming together like no other to support one of their own.

The message went out on a friend’s Facebook page shortly after December 10, “a bright and beautiful light went out in Renovo on the afternoon of Friday, December 10.”

Linda Goodling, a well-known personality in the Renovo community, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away at a hospital in Philadelphia. Because of growing and expensive medical bills, an emergency fundraiser was put together to help the Goodling family.

“We are doing an emergency fundraiser to help the Goodling family during this difficult time, we need your help – message if you would be willing to donate a basket and help us give back to, and in memory of Linda as we raise funds for her family,” a message on Facebook said.

The individuals who organized the fundraiser were those who are associated with the Greater Renovo Area Heritage Park, a local historic preservation organization where Linda held titles such as Board Member, Office Manager, Volunteer, “Den Mother,” and Organizer Extraordinaire.

The basket raffle fundraiser grew quick traction in the Renovo community. A few days after it was announced, the Renovo Heritage Park reported that over 50 baskets had been donated from various organizations, businesses, and individuals to be raffled to help the Goodling family.

“A lot of cash, lottery tickets, and so much more for Linda Goodling raffle…she loved these events,” is what another Facebook post read prior to the event.

Linda was a lot of things to a lot of people. Conversations with Renovo Heritage Park Board Members and volunteers provided great insight and stories to celebrate her life and contributions while on this Earth.

Mary George Rhone
“Linda was our Office Manager and a Board Member,” said Mary George Rhone. “She had touched so many people’s lives…the most organized unorganized woman that I knew.”

“She welcomed 2 kids into her home that she had adopted and was a friend to anyone she met,” Rhone remembered. “We need you back, we’ll be finding things, little remembrances, that she had done at Renovo Heritage Park for months.”

“She was my partner in crime and was taken away too soon.”

Tracy Shady
“I have known her all my life, we grew up together in North Bend and became a closer family at Renovo Heritage Park,” said Tracy. “You could always depend on her for anything, the sweetest woman I could ever know and would do anything for you, she always wanted to help out.”

Jokingly, Tracy said that Linda would never call her by her right last name “She always called me Risley, my maiden name…it made me feel younger,” Tracy said. It was actually her children and grandchildren who made Linda feel younger. “It didn’t matter who she was in a meeting with, she would take all phone and video calls from the kids and grandkids all the time,” Tracy said.

“She kept us on our toes, if it wasn’t for Linda calling to remind us about meetings we would have missed a lot more…she surely helped us keep our heads on straight.”

Martha Sykes
“I admired her for taking in kids when they had troubles; she kept them from going down the wrong paths,” Martha remembered. “ I was teaching at the schools when I met Linda, she was a school assistant and stepped up to the plate to do whatever that needed to be done for the kids.”

“Nobody will be able to fill her shoes at Renovo Heritage Park,” Martha said. “It was Linda who started to work on this basket raffle which was to be a holiday fundraiser for the organization, she was so happy to help with everything.”

“I was so very blessed to know her and be friends with her for as long as I was…thank God for her life and how she helped others; we should all take a little piece of Linda as we go through life.”

Margaret Riggle
“I was working at the (Renovo) elementary school when Linda would come in to volunteer every day, she never missed a day,” Margaret said. “She kept the books for basketball where all of the players would call her “Momma Lin,” she would keep the jewelry for the kids while at the basketball games, all the kids had their own little bin for safe keeping.”

“Linda was a graduate of the class of ‘79, but the class of ‘76 adopted her and we spent lots of time together attending class meetings, building floats…you just could never say anything bad about her, she always looked for the good in people,” said Margaret.

“She was the brains behind so many things, constantly, and I think she was also Mary George’s private secretary,” Margaret said jokingly. “She had a really big heart and was a mother-figure to so many.”

Rich Wykoff
“I knew her first when I was teaching, she was volunteering with the 6th grade classes,” said Rich. “This really was all a big shock, no way to put it or sum it up…Linda was part of the new Board at Renovo Heritage Park and the group taking it to the next level.”

“Linda cared so deeply about this community and the people, she was the kind of person who was quiet about what she did for the organization operating behind-the-scenes, but she took volunteering seriously and was someone you knew you could trust when you first met her,” said Rich. “Linda fit with us perfectly and we will mourn her as a family member.”

“She would always lean-in to a situation rather than run from it, and always with a smile.”

Though the basket raffle event occurred this past weekend, anybody interested in donating to the Goodling Family to help offset expenses can do so by following the gofundme link here: https://gofund.me/f2271469