A Day in the Life

MEALS ON WHEELS OF SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN IS LOSING LINDA...

BY LAWRENCE VON EBELER

The venerable Meals on Wheels Executive Director Linda Strohl is retiring!

When she arrived here from California to our Harbor Country, few would have known that she was suffering from one of life's greatest tragedies: the loss of her young, beloved husband. Few knew this because we have only known her for her stability and indeed her focus and her deep dedication to her work and her staff and volunteers. Despite her personal loss, she displayed an astute appreciation and dedication to her work. Her extraordinary effort to bring an outstanding service to our aging seniors, for whom she had so much empathy and respect, prevailed over her grief, as she had critical fronts that she had to resolve immediately.

Few would have known, too, of her immediate efforts to keep Meals on Wheels’ service in the Harbor Country area! They were in deep trouble. Few would have known of the sleepless nights, the scores of pivotal decisions she had to make for continuing their service. Her people skills and perseverance created a loyal atmosphere for maintaining the staff and the near golden volunteers and for preparing and delivering the hundreds of meals served daily - rain, or shine. It is a behemoth of an operation!

It was also a challenge for her to maintain the service through the nightmare pandemic months. Her exceptional management skills and human nature for the services to her seniors made it seem like “life goes on as usual” - and no one was the wiser. The fact is, it took a Herculean effort that none of the seniors ever knew to maintain the muchappreciated meals. Linda, in effect, had adopted her seniors and her perseverance was viewed remarkable by all who were involved. She held firmly to her standards as it was, and all who witnessed that were amazed and worked harder to keep the service exceptional.

The news of her retirement has a greater impact than meets the eye. The standards she maintained were highly regarded by the board, and recognized as superlative by the local media, as well as nationally. She was a star!

She has the good wishes of the entire Meals on Wheels staff, as well as her volunteer troops. God bless her and may she and her darling “Malo” dog live the full and free life that she deserves as she retires to her cottage in the woods that she so loves. Her staff and volunteers wish her well and they will be thankful and enjoy her legacy and her kind, always masterful touches every day.