Linda J. Riley

Linda Joy (Kisor) Riley passed away on Friday, November 21st at Ava's House in Sioux Falls, SD at the age of 73 after her unwavering journey with breast cancer. The visitation will be held on Friday, November 28th from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at the Sturm Funeral Home in Lamberton, MN. Her funeral is Saturday, November 29th at 10:30 am at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Lamberton with Father Jeremy Kucera officiating the service. A time of gathering and visitation will be held at 9:30 am prior to the funeral. Burial will be at St. Mathias cemetery in Wanda, MN following the service. A light lunch will be held at the Lamberton American Legion.

Linda Joy Kisor, daughter of the late Wesley and Meredith (Ellingworth), was born on January 25th, 1952 at Mrs. Meehl's Maternity Home in Morristown, MN. Linda was baptized at Evangelical United Brethren and confirmed at the Peace United Methodist church which began her dedicated faith-based life. Linda was the middle child with an older brother, Larry, and younger sister, Lori. From a musical family, performance was a core part of her growing up. Her father would play the guitar and the entire family would sing. Linda and her sister would sing duets at local community events. She played the piano, guitar, French horn, trumpet, and omnichord, and continued to be a lifelong student demonstrated by recently learning how to play additional instruments. She spent her school years at Morristown Public schools and participated as head majorette. She loved hula hooping and twirling the baton.

Linda attended Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, MN where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in education. She was hired by Lamberton Public School in 1974 as a third grade teacher. After a few years, the district merged with Sanborn Schools. There she met Pickle, a fun-loving, handsome custodian who quickly became her friend. He impressed her with her favorite flower, a bouquet of white roses. After dating for a short while, they married on June 26th, 1992, and the kind gesture of a dozen white roses continued throughout their union. Through the marriage, Linda gained two daughters, Debra and Karrie, and the next year, they had their third beloved daughter, Sheela.

Family was the center of Linda's life. She attended her daughter's and grandchildren's' activities, whether that be a concert, musical production, or sporting event. She volunteered and taught CCD at St. Mathias Catholic church and was part of the CCW organization. Linda had a passion for collecting dolls, including Lucille Ball, Ashley-Drake, and fairy-tale princesses. Her love for music continued as she would sit for hours listening to her vinyls and CD's. She truly enjoyed writing letters and receiving them, and her penmanship was a work of art.

Linda was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in January 2013. After almost thirteen years of treatments, surgeries, pain, and bright spots of hope, it came down to the brutal truth that her body could no longer carry on. She entered hospice at Ava's House in Sioux Falls, SD on Thursday, November 13th for her last days where she was always surrounded by her family.

Those who mourn her passing include her daughters Debra (Eric) Riley Ose, and her three children, Colin (Zoë), Hannah (Dayane), and Austin; Karrie (Craig) Myers and her three children, Mikayla, Mason and Mercedes along with stepsons Adam (Brittany), Tyler (special friend Ashley) and Matthew (Abby) and families; Sheela (John Linneman) Riley and her two children Emilia and Arthur, Linda's siblings Lori (Brian) Gieseke and Larry (Vickie) Kisor and families. Preceding her in death was her beloved husband, Giles "Pickle", parents Wesley and Meredith, stepfather John Melvin Warnemunde, in-laws, Sylvester and Ella Riley, grandson Thomas Linneman, and other family members waiting to welcome her.