Linda Claire Clausen 1945-2012

CLAUSEN FISCHER

Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 9/20/2012 at 11:15:40

Sioux City Journal
August 29, 2012

SIOUX CITY | Linda Claire Clausen, 67, of Sioux City lost her courageous eight-month battle with cancer peacefully in the comfort of her home on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012, under the care of hospice and her family. Linda was a wonderful wife to Glenn Clausen, the loving mother to her five children and grandmother to nine grandchildren.

Services will be 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Michael Catholic Church, with the Rev. David Hemann officiating. Graveside services will be 1:30 p.m. Thursday in St. Joseph Cemetery, Anthon, Iowa. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m. and a vigil service at 7 p.m., at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Condolences may be posted online at www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Linda Claire Fischer was born on Aug. 17, 1945, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and raised in Neola, Iowa, as a farm girl. She attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Neola, where she was active in 4-H and all school activities, including being an outstanding varsity basketball player. Following high school, Linda attended Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colo., before transferring to the University of Omaha in Nebraska, where she graduated with a degree in elementary education. Upon graduation, Linda taught in the Omaha parochial school system, and then the Iowa parochial and public school systems.

Linda married her loving husband of 43 years, Glenn Clausen, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Neola. The couple lived in the Anthon and Pierson, Iowa, area for 25 years before moving to Sioux City seven years ago. Their children attended the Anthon-Oto and the River Valley school systems.

For the past 19 years, Linda had worked as a caseworker and department manager for the job-training program at Western Iowa Technical Community College. During those years, Linda bettered the lives of countless individuals, their families and their households by helping them find employment, obtain education, and strengthen their skills. Over the past few months, her co-workers and many of the people she had helped have expressed their deep appreciation for the sincerity, devotion and dedication she had shown over her years of service to them.

The loves of her life were her family and being a mom. Linda was a meticulous homemaker, an excellent cook and an accomplished seamstress. Linda gave everything she had to raising her five children. She religiously read a bedtime story to each and every one of them before tucking them in each night. Her tireless devotion resulted in her children graduating at the top of their high school classes and graduating from five different private colleges and universities. Julie graduated from the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. with a degree in nursing. Carrie graduated from Haverford College in Haverford, Pa. with a degree in biology and then went on to obtain a master's in social work from New York University. Cyrus graduated with a degree in business administration from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis. Peter graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, with a degree in sociology. Kevin graduated with a degree in economics from St. Olaf’s College in Northfield, Minn. The graduation day for each of her children from these colleges and universities were her most cherished and proudest memories.

Linda leaves behind her husband, Glenn; her daughter, Julie and her husband, Bob Jenkins and their two children, Ellie and Ryan; her daughter, Carrie and her husband, Rob Larson and their three children, Claire, Robert and Scott; her son, Cyrus and his wife, Katie Clausen and their two children, Margaret and Anna; her son, Peter; her son, Kevin and his wife, Jaclynn Clausen and their two children, Brylei and Bo; two brothers, EJ Fischer and his wife, Jean of Neola, Iowa, and Dean Fischer and his wife, Patricia of Neola; a sister, Lenore Allred and her husband, Ray of San Antonio, Texas; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her three infant children, Margaret Ann, Andrew Joseph and Ann Margaret; and her parents, Edward H. Fischer and Mary Catherine (Ryan) Fischer.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Linda’s name to the American Cancer Society, Hospice of Siouxland or St. Michael Parish.