Herta Rodig Linehan

Memorial service for Herta Rodig Linehan will be held at 1:30 p.m., Friday, August 14, 2020 in the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Chapel with Chaplain (CPT) Garrett Cardinet, Fort Sill, Oklahoma officiating.

The service may be viewed by following the live stream link at www.beckerfuneral.com or by visiting the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Facebook page.

Herta Rodig Linehan, age 84, Lawton, passed away peacefully on Saturday, August 1, 2020 in Lawton after a long illness. She was born on September 7, 1935 in Vogeldorf, Czechoslovakia, to Johann Rodig and Berta (Pecher) Rodig. Herta was a devoted wife, a loving mother to her three children, and an adoring Oma to her grandchildren. She was a strong, courageous woman with a kind heart and a giving spirit. She was our shining light and will be greatly missed.

Herta was born in the Sudetenland four years before the start of WWII. She lived through the hardships of war, losing her beloved father to the Russian Winter and experiencing the uprooting of her remaining family and loss of their home after the war as the Czechs expelled all Germans from the region. Along with her mother, sister, grandmother, and aunts, she eventually settled in the farming village of Hauzenberg in Bavaria. She was always inquisitive and studious with a love of reading anything and everything. As a teenager, she studied at the convent boarding school in Ursberg, Germany, where she discovered a love for art and a talent for drawing. Herta could draw beautifully. She eventually studied art at the university in Nurnberg and at a private atelier in Munich.

Herta married the love of her life, Daniel George Linehan, Jr., in 1963, while she was living in Passau and he was stationed with the U.S. Army in Germany. She came to the United States as an army wife, a life that suited her, as she loved to travel and had always dreamed of coming to America. However, it was not always an easy life. First she had to perfect her English and adjust to a new culture. Then she had to raise her three children alone while her husband served two tours of duty in Vietnam, as she awaited his safe return.

Herta's children, Monika, Ellen, and Daniel, were her world. She encouraged them throughout their lives to discover and pursue their unique talents. She convinced them that nothing was out of reach. She instilled in them the importance of education, hard work, and taking pride in all that you do. Through her example, her children learned the worth of kindness, empathy, and respect for others. Her children were never without, even when money was short. She sewed finely tailored clothing for her children and herself. When her daughters requested a dollhouse, she built one from scrap materials complete with furniture and wallpaper.

One of Herta's many talents was baking; she was known for her delicious and beautifully decorated German Christmas cookies, which she shared with family, friends and neighbors. Every year before the holidays, the "cookie lady," with the help of her children, would embark on a baking marathon. Like most true Germans, she also loved to garden, lovingly tending to her flowers, especially her favorite, roses. Later in life, Herta adopted a furry friend, her beloved little pug Ernest, who she spoiled unapologetically. He became the recipient of an extensive wardrobe of hand-crocheted coats, which she made sure fit his pudgy physique perfectly.

Herta never met a stranger; she accepted everyone. Always interested in others, she would talk to anyone and listen to their stories. She truly cared about others, whether they were family, friend, or stranger. She always had a smile for everyone. Her heart was larger than life, and it overflowed with love for her family and friends. Herta was one of the good ones. She was our light. Although her light is now extinguished, her precious memory will live in our hearts forever.

Herta is survived by her children, daughters Monika Linehan, Lawton, and Ellen Anne Linehan-Keller and husband Larry, Plano, Texas; son, Daniel George Linehan, III and wife Rena, Norman; three granddaughters, Carley Van Hooser, Josie Linehan, and Danielle Linehan, Norman; four step-grandchildren, Sarina Davis, Kirsten Peoples, Bryan Keller, and Dale Jones, all of North Texas; her sister, Anna Stuppy, Giessen, Germany; nephew Christian Stuppy, wife Ilona and daughters Milena and Madita, Giessen, Germany; and nieces Ellen Stuppy, Washington, D.C. and son Jeremy, Berlin, and Pia Fuchs and husband Christian, Bad Reichenhall, Germany; mother-in-law, Catharine Linehan, Oklahoma City; two sisters-in-law, Patricia Ann Platt, Oklahoma City, and Mary Elkan and husband Glen, Bartlesville; five brothers-in-law, John Linehan and wife Caroline, Stillwater, Michael Linehan, Steven Linehan and wife Sherri, Bartlesville, Richard Linehan, Bartlesville, and Bill Linehan and wife Allyson, Bartlesville; special cousin-in-law Karen Bogle, Oklahoma City; her dearest, life-long friend Margaret Ferguson, Utica, Michigan; and numerous other cousins, nieces, nephews and friends in Germany and the U.S.

She is preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Daniel George Linehan, Jr.