Linda is a Ruling Elder at Montclair Presbyterian Church (MPC) where she has been a member for over 30 years. She was a Godly Play Storyteller for over 20 years, and now volunteers as a Greeter. She is active in the Peace and Justice Committee and co-leads the Indigenous Study/Action Group. On occasional Sundays she can be heard playing electric bass with MPC’s rock band, the Ruling Elders. Together with Rev. Talitha Amadea Aho and Jenn Biehn (Neighbors for Racial Justice), Linda has twice co-led “Transforming White Privilege on the Path to Racial Equity” at MPC, a 5-week course that creates a healing community while cultivating the skills to do the work of dismantling racism.
Her formal participation in the San Francisco Presbytery began in 2022 when she was commissioned to be on the Racism Audit Support Team. This team identified volunteers to join what would become the Truth Commissioning Assessing Race Equity (T-CARE). Linda currently serves as staff support for T-CARE.
Linda grew up in rural Western New York State and attended an Episcopalian Church. She has a master’s degree in Geology and worked for 25 years as a hydrogeologist with a specialty in water supply protection. Her sense of the sacred nature of earth led and sustained her career as a consultant and a local and state government employee. She is an avid practitioner of nonviolent communication and a part of the Burning Man community. She and her husband, Bob, have lived in Oakland for over 35 years. Their two adult children and their families also live in Oakland. In her “spare” time, she enjoys babysitting her granddaughter, reading, exercising, and needlepoint.
