Obituary Linda Rice Rodgers – Saratoga, CA (1948-2024)

Linda Rice Rodgers, attorney, married for 53 years to David Rodgers, a women’s advocate, public policy student, and friend to many, surrendered her soul to God on July 7, 2024 after a four-year battle with ovarian cancer. Born on October 13, 1948 to Virginia Fawcett Rice and Donald Harpster Rice, Linda spent her childhood on a ranch near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she learned to love and care for animals at an early age. Linda and Dave met at Carnegie-Mellon University, where Linda earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and History with a minor in Mathematics in 1970. She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1973. She has practiced law in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Oregon, Texas, and California. During her career as an attorney, Linda sought justice for her private clients and fair administration of the many state and local agencies for which she practiced. She served as a corporate attorney in the Massachusetts courts, associate director of the Worcester Office of Labor Relations, and assistant attorney general for the Oregon Department of Justice. While at the Oregon Department of Justice, she was involved in many high-profile cases involving gender discrimination, nuclear waste disposal, separation of church and state, and child welfare. She lent her expertise to the communities in which she lived as part of the Acton Personnel Board, Forest Park Neighborhood Association, Saratoga Planning Commission, and El Camino Hospital Hope to Health Committee. As the wife of an engineer with colleagues around the world, she enjoyed accompanying David to destinations around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, China, Tahiti, Japan, Brazil, Chile, Easter Island, England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Russia, Egypt, Mauritius, and South Africa. During a three-year stay in France, Linda, already an accomplished cook, took lessons from renowned chef Roger Verges. She climbed the Great Wall of China, rode a camel through the streets of Egypt, walked the streets of Venice in search of Tintoretto’s murals, flew a glider in the mountains of New Hampshire, sailed across the Mediterranean to the Iles de Lehrins and Corsica. In the Etruscan tombs of Italy, she marveled at the lifelike depictions of daily life. As her own mortality approached, she noted that the Etruscans, like the Buddhists, saw death as a part of life, not to be feared but to be accepted. Looking back on her adventures, she said, “Life is like a string of pearls.” Linda was a careful and meticulous writer, writing laws and regulations in Massachusetts and Oregon and co-authoring a section on negotiation for Oregon’s Public Sector Labor Law publication. While living in France, she wrote a 35-page New Year’s letter, complete with summary and footnotes, describing the Cote d’Azur region, our life as expats, French culture, and the holidays to friends. Linda’s passion for craftsmanship extended to collecting art in various forms: paintings, sculptures, wood carvings, pottery, leather goods and jewelry. She enjoyed watching soccer and hockey games and appreciated both the physical and creative arts. Linda had an ironic sense of humor, ready to laugh at a good joke, but only if it was in good taste. In addition to traveling, dressing stylishly and eating well, Linda enjoyed music, nature and gardening and was very fond of her pets. Starting with a stray cat that David dropped on her lap in the middle of the night, Linda had a series of pet cats that she treated with great attention. Uncle Tom, Teazer, Jake, Barney, Shadow, Little Grey, Cleo and Cupid led pampered lives. She was an avid fan of “Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet” and other reality shows focusing on animal welfare. Linda was preceded in death by her parents, but is survived by her husband David Rodgers, her siblings Susan Rice and Donald Rice, her sisters-in-law Ruth Travis and Linda Palumbo, her nieces Katlyn Rice, Dana Rains and Natalie Palumbo, her nephews Michael Eng, Todd Travis and David Palumbo, and her cats Valentine and Thistle. Linda’s good works and kind nature left a mark on everyone she touched. She will be missed.