Linda Ruckman

Linda Ruckman of La Grande, Oregon, died Sunday, May 19 2024, at the age of 83.

Private inurnment will be at Grandview Cemetery, Foothill Road, La Grande, Oregon, where she will join her parents, a brother, and a daughter.

Linda Garnetta was born in Orofino, Idaho, on July 4, 1940, one of six children of Lloyd Garnet and Emma Ruth (Andrews) Riggs. The family moved to La Grande, where she was raised, educated, and lived most of her life.

Linda had one son, Gregory Lee Thompson, and three daughters, Kimberly Ruth (Thompson) Kirby, Julie Rae (Page) Archambeau, and Brandi Lynn (Burke) Richardson.

As a youngster, Linda enjoyed competitive swimming, reading, and foot races. She excelled at bowling in her twenties and thirties and thoroughly enjoyed traveling the country with her bowling league. A fearless adventurer, Linda would, often on a whim, load the kids in the car and take off on a trip to Idaho, Washington, or up north along Oregon's coast.

Linda spent much of her adult life working as a service professional. She managed the waitstaff and bar at the Tropidara and the East Side alongside owners and close friends Lou Carpenter and Dottie Tetrick, respectively. A stickler for providing the best food and service possible, one knew they were in good hands with Linda. She'd even been known to go into the kitchen and prepare something for you herself if it hadn't been done right the first time around!

In the mid-1980s, Linda attended and graduated with honors from Business School in La Grande. She quickly found the office environment too slow-paced and shortly returned to the service of food and/or spirits. She enjoyed spending time with friends and dancing at the Elks, American Legion, and Eagles.

If you were big enough to sit in a chair, you were big enough to play Scrabble or help her fill in the little crossword squares with letters. Linda passed on her quick wit and love of words to her children and grandchildren. She will be remembered for countless, boisterous hours together around the Scrabble board and quietly penning crosswords over cups of black coffee.

Her sister, Carol, introduced Linda to Bob Ross-style oil painting in her later years. They spent many hours on the canvas and passed along the pure joy of painting to their kids and grandkids with a passion for such. Linda's favorite color was mauve, and she absolutely loved the majestic beauty of flowers, the Lily, Gardenia, and Plumeria being at the top of her long list.  Linda's circle of family and friends, including those of the four-legged variety, expanded greatly over the last two decades with the love of extended family.

Loved ones include husband Mike Ruckman of La Grande, son Greg Thompson and hanai daughter Barbie Parks of La Grande, daughters Julie and husband Terry Archambeau of Sun City West, Arizona, and Brandi Richardson of Prescott Valley, Arizona, grandchildren Jeff, Tanya, Brent, Craig, Stephen, Meghan, Emma, and Delayna, several great-grandchildren, and her brother Paul Riggs of Puyallup, Washington. Her parents preceded her in death, as did her sisters Patty O'Day and Carol Looker, brothers Dean and Gary Riggs, and daughter Kimberly Kirby.

Linda's family invites you to join a Celebration of Life on her July 4th birthday weekend. Please contact Julie Archambeau at (808)798-6286 for more information. Friends who wish may make contributions in memory of Linda Ruckman to the American Legion.