Linda Ann Rink was born October 20, 1945 in Brooklyn, New York to Anna and Erich Friederix. She grew up on Long Island with her mother, father, and younger sister, Rita. She loved the ocean, reading, and playing with dolls growing up - totally opposite of Rita who wanted to be out climbing trees. Their father passed in 1959 when Linda was 14. This didn’t stop Linda from graduating early from Malverne High School at 16 years old. By the time she turned 17 she was ready for life to unfold her way. She set out to the California coast in the early 1960s, where she would eventually meet her first husband, Larry. They had one child, Karl, in 1972 after a move to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Larry died in a tragic car accident in 1975.
After her husband’s passing, she made her way back to the ocean in San Diego, California where she met Kent in 1978. He would become her husband and was with her for the next 42 years of her life. In 1980 their first daughter, Serenity, was born. The California lifestyle got to be too much for the growing family. Kent had family and roots in Montana, so they agreed to move to Big Sky Country to settle down. Anna Lisa, their second and last child, was born in 1984 in Bozeman, Montana. Linda got a job and worked hard as a clerk in the community grocery stores to make ends meet. Around 1988 Linda and Kent purchased a little corner of Belgrade, Montana where she would spend the rest of her days.
Linda learned to love the Montana landscape despite the cold and snowy winters. During her years in Montana she mastered the art of the “car rock”, a driving technique that could get you out of the deepest snow-packed and iciest of driveways. You would find her warming her bones and teaching her girls to swim at the local Bozeman Hot Springs to beat the winter blues. Besides swimming and soaking, she adored jewelry and planting flowers. Every spring she would head to the local garden centers and hand pick variations of flowers and plants to create stunning potted landscapes to make her world more beautiful. By 2006 she had six grandkids, all of whom she was absolutely crazy about and made it a point to be an integral part of all their lives.
She was much loved and is survived by her husband, Kent Hovland; son, Karl (Charlene) Rink; daughters, Serenity (Craig) Hammerland and Anna (Jacob) Reijgers; all six of her beloved grandchildren; and her sister, Rita. She was preceded in death by her older sister, Margot, and her father and mother.
Please join us for a gathering and memorial of her life on Saturday February 29, 2020 at 1:00 P.M at Christ’s Church, 30 Red Fox Ln, Bozeman, MT 59718.
Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. www.dokkennelson.com [dokkennelson.com]
