Obituary of Linda Marie Wiens

Linda’s Life Story

Linda Marie Wiens (nee Dowd) was born January 15, 1952 in St. Catharines, Ontario. Her parents were Gerri and Bill Dowd. Linda attended 3 Elementary Schools (St. John’s, St. Alfred’s, and Canadian Martyrs). She lived at 20 Oswald Ave. where she met her best and lifelong friend Ada Westera. She attended Grantham High School where she made many more friends. After graduating high school, she attended Brock University where she studied to be a teacher. During high school and University she worked part time at Mason’s Pharmacy. Since there were no teaching jobs available after Brock, she started working at Allan’s Pharmacy, were she worked for many years. In 1972 she met a high school acquaintance, Ron Wiens. They started dating and were married on August 18, 1973. Linda attended the Linwell church with Ron and was baptized on her confession of faith in May 1973. During their marriage, Linda volunteered for various different positions in the church. Two years after they were married they bought their first house on 20 Russel Ave. In March of 1980, their son David was born. Because there was no yard and David needed to cross a busy main street to go to school, they looked for another house and bought a house at 14 Tecumseh St. in north St. Catharines. Linda’s teaching certificate had lapsed since her graduation and in the 1980’s a teaching shortage occurred in the Niagara region, and with the help of a friend from church, Linda got her teaching certificate grandfathered and was able to apply to be a teacher. She started as a part time teacher, then half time and while she did this she went back to school and got her Early Childhood Certificate. That helped her get a full time job at Meadowvale Elementary School teaching Kindergarten and Jr. Kindergarten. It was October of 1992 when Linda was struck down with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Most people who got this illness died from it. Linda survived and after spending 6 months in 3 different hospitals, she came home and with great determination got herself back to where she could return to work at Meadowvale. She went back to classes and got her Learning Resource Teaching Certificate so she could help children with special needs. She worked at Senator Gibson in Beamsville until her body would not allow her to continue further. She went on permanent disability until she retired. Linda and Ron celebrated their 50^th Wedding Anniversary in Aug. 2023. Linda passed away on May 27, 2024.

Linda is survived by her husband Ron, her son David (Laura Dockrill), her grandchildren Danielle, Alex, Lucas, Charlotte and Eleanor. Also, her brother Greg (Jackie), brother Vincent (Kathy), and her sister Cathy (Ron). She is predeceased by her sister Sharon.

The family will receive friends Thursday May 30, from 2 to 4pm and 6 to 8pm at the St. Catharines United Mennonite Church,335 Linwell Rd. Funeral service will be held at the church, on Friday May 31 at 10:30am.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to MCC or Canadian Cancer Society.