Obituary of Linda Rose Van Dyke

August 15, 1955 – Lloydminster, Alberta
January 26, 2022 – Calgary, Alberta

Linda Rose Van Dyke of Calgary, AB, passed away on Wednesday, January 26, 2022 at the age of 66 years.

Linda was born in Lloydminster, AB, to Thomas Floyd Dyke and Lena Rose Dyke (nee Martin). She grew up on a farm near Dodsland, SK. After graduating from North West Central High in Plenty, SK, Linda travelled and worked in England and Ireland (where she is fondly remembered by her friends and relatives in Buncrana, County Donegal.) She settled in Bowness in the mid 1970s where she started her business, Van Dyke Accounting, and has been surrounded by good friends and neighbours ever since. 

Linda was an integral part of the Feline Rescue Foundation of Alberta (FRFA). She devoted her life to the wellbeing of animals, and contributed to many other animal rescue organizations. She had a passion for helping the underdogs of the world, especially animals. A friend told us that Linda was the least judgemental person she had met or even imagined.

Linda got great satisfaction from her time with Brimstone Productions in the 1980s and early 1990s with that close circle of friends, especially Sheldon Chumir, who was like a big brother to her. More recently she enjoyed outings and going to plays with her old friends from Saskatchewan now living in Calgary. 

A poster she liked – which is still on the wall of her bedroom at the farm where she grew up says: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away” – Henry David Thoreau. She also liked “Bloom where you are planted”, and had a poster of that saying in her home in Bowness.

Linda is survived by her mother, Lena Roberts of North Battleford, SK, her sister Elizabeth Dyke of Toronto, ON, brothers, Bob (Diane) Dyke of Toronto, ON, and Jim Dyke of Edmonton, AB; nieces, Cristina and Valerie, nephews, Jim and Michael and their families; cousins, and friends – notably Darlene Goldney, Carol Ross, and Dawn Hanson (close loyal friends in Calgary.) Linda was predeceased by her father Thomas Floyd Dyke, brother Thomas Dale Dyke, and her niece Danielle Dyke.

A Memorial Celebration will take place in the coming months in Calgary. Condolences, memories and photos can also be shared and viewed here. If friends so desire, in lieu of flowers, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Feline Rescue Foundation of Alberta (FRFA), https://frfa.ca/donate/. 

In living memory of Linda Van Dyke, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Crowfoot, 82 Crowfoot Circle NW, Calgary, AB T3G 2T3, Telephone: 403-241-0044. Linda’s sister-in-law Diane noted that the tree might also be appreciated by Linda’s dogs.