Linda Jane Butters Struthers died March 23, 2026 in the still hours before dawn. It was a Monday morning in spring, in a room where she faced a window that overlooked a garden. Her final days were spent taking in the quiet beauty she had always sought out and cherished, chatting with family, and sleeping peacefully.
Born to George Bradford Butters and Jane Luney Butters on July 25, 1948, Linda grew up in Washington, D.C., alongside her three siblings: Brian, Janie, and Julia. It was in Washington that she met the man who would become her partner in all things, Mark Struthers, with whom she shared 59 years of marriage. Hers was a lineage that ran deep in American history, tracing back to the Revolutionary War era, and across the Atlantic to Ireland. She cherished her roots, and formed her own.
Linda and Mark’s family began with their firstborn son, Christopher George, who lived only hours after his birth. They laid him to rest in California, and Linda carried that loss quietly and for the rest of her life. She and Mark went on to raise two children: Stephen Michael and Jennette Sarah, who were her great joy and pride.
The family settled in Houston for decades before Linda and Mark retired to Central Texas to be near their daughter. Linda earned a B.S. in nursing from the University of Texas and worked as a case manager. For years, she also volunteered at the St. Vincent de Paul Society food pantry, giving her free hours to neighbors in need.
Her joy in family only deepened with the arrival of her grandchildren — Tristan Bradford Struthers, who married Tiffany Currier, and Sean Patrick Schlinke, son of Jennette and Allen Schlinke. She loved them all fiercely and without reservation.
To know Linda was to know a woman of strong convictions and stronger personality. She was independent, headstrong, and feisty. She believed deeply in social justice, environmental stewardship, and the care of animals in need. She was thrifting decades before it became fashionable, and she worked, in her quiet and persistent way, to minimize her footprint on the earth and to leave the world better for her efforts.
Her days were filled with the things she loved. Throughout her life she puttered in her garden with devotion, welcomed stray dogs into her heart and her home, and had a gift for finding little beautiful and interesting objects; a glass bird here, a wind chime there, a colorful tin or holiday ornament that she gathered with delight. She baked bread from scratch, she laughed easily and often, and she read voraciously — moving with equal comfort between dense literary classics and cozy mysteries, always with a book nearby. In her later years she settled into her living room, where a bank of windows looked out on the yard and all its activity: birds, squirrels, and her dogs. She never lost her fascination for the world — mystery programs, travel documentaries, and storm chasers all held her attention. But she was always happiest at home, a dog dozing in her lap and the objects of a well-lived life around her.
Linda Struthers was deeply loved and will be dearly missed. Those who knew and loved her will doubtlessly carry the memory of her spirit — stubborn, generous, and full of life — with them always.
She is survived by
her husband, Mark Struthers
her daughter, Jennette Sarah, and devoted son-in-law, Allen Schlinke
her grandsons, Tristan Struthers and Sean Schlinke and their wives and partners Tiffany Currier Struthers and Jordan Dalton respectively
her sisters, Julia and Janie (Yana) and her family
the wife and children of her late brother, Brian
her very beloved dogs, Jilly Bean and Fiona
and a wide circle of friends and family whom she loved dearly and who will miss her greatly
She was preceded in death by her sons, Christopher George Struthers (1967) and Stephen Michael Struthers (2011).