Linda Nell Donato passed away peacefully at her home in Anacortes, WA on June 21, 2021. Linda burst into the world July 29, 1944, in Great Falls, MT to George Asselstein and Mary Jane Maxwell. Linda and her elder sister, Sandra Jane,  lost their mother when Linda was four years old. Her father remarried to Charlotte Strandberg and her son Brett became a brother to the girls. In 1964, Linda married Carlo Donato. They had one son, Chris.

From the start Linda was a bundle of energy which she channeled into many activities. She climbed Mt. Rainier. She was an avid cyclist and entered many Northwest bike rides including the famed two-day Seattle to Portland bike ride. For many years she rode in the ALS Charity Bike Ride as her husband, Carlo, died of the disease in 1982. Later in life, she cheered in the stands at Seattle Storm games with her partner, and eventual wife, Zoanne Hyland. They were together for thirty years.

Linda also had a wonderful singing voice which she used in plays and church choirs. Her faith was important to her, so she participated in many activities in the Episcopal Church. She regularly helped feed homeless women at her home church, St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle. She, Zoanne and a group from St. Mark's traveled to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for those displaced by the disaster. Linda also held many diocesan offices in the episcopal church.

Family was also quite important to Linda. She loved preparing big holiday feasts for her wife, son, grandchildren and great grandchildren,

Her career was in fashion merchandising, and she taught fashion design at Seattle Pacific University.

Exuding warmth, and, of course, her trademark energy, Linda never met a stranger and had many lifelong friends. She loved to travel so she and Zoanne trekked around the world to such destinations as Egypt, Bhutan, Greece, Costa Rica, and other locales where they made new friends.

Linda is survived by her wife, Zoanne, son Chris, sister Sandra, grandkids: Karianne (Austin), Bryan (Andrea) and great grandkids: London Bell and Able Davis.  Services for Linda will be announced when finalized on her memorial page at Evans Funeral Chapel where you may also share memories of Linda with her family at www.evanschapel.com/obituary/linda-donato .