Linda Schatz May 22, 1953 – Dec. 27, 2024

      Linda Schatz, 71, died unexpectedly Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, at her home in Urbandale, Iowa.

    Funeral services will be held on Friday, Jan. 10.  Visitation will begin at 11 a.m. with a service at 1 p.m. at Goettsch Funeral Home, Monticello.  Interment will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. Pastor Holly Knouse will officiate at the services.  Thoughts, memories and condolences may be left at www.goettschonline.com.

    Surviving are three siblings, Stan (Ruth) Schatz, Diana (Robert) Muchmore, and Kenneth Schatz; her godchildren, Michael Schatz, Andy Lueck and Susan Harder; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. 

    Linda Sue Schatz was born May 22, 1953, at John McDonald Hospital, Monticello, Iowa.  She was the daughter of Wilfred Carl and Velda Marie (Toenjes) Schatz.  Linda graduated from Monticello Community Schools and continued her education at Kirkwood Community College, but she had dreams and aspirations bigger than being an administrative secretary. She enrolled in the two-year bachelor program at Mount Mercy University and finished her degree for business administration in one year. Linda landed a job at Iowa Public Television and found her passion for providing telecommunications resources and opportunities to schools and libraries.  She played an instrumental role in the initial distribution of the fiber optics network in Iowa.  After a few years she continued her education at Drake University where she received her masters degree in higher education.  Linda was a pioneer as a woman in the telecommunications field, developing networks at the state level in Iowa and Michigan, as well as the national level when she was Vice President of Outreach, Schools and Libraries Division, at the Universal Service Administrative Co. in Washington, D.C.  In 2003, Linda applied her vast knowledge and experience in educational telecommunications to start her own business, EdTech Strategies, with her partner Aleck Johnson.  This career move allowed her to continue assisting schools and libraries through consulting and grant writing, and to eventually return to Iowa to be closer to family.

    Outside of her passion for her work, Linda’s greatest joys were sewing, tending to her plants and flowers, and spending time with the people that she loved.  Her generosity towards those she cared about was overflowing. She will be missed by many.