Linda Jean (Brundige) Battello

 Linda Jeane (Brundige) Battello passed away on May 8, 2025 at University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora. Linda was born in Holyoke, CO on October 23, 1946; she was the first child to be born to Glenn Christie and Dorothy Jeane (Beckman) Brundige. She was joined by brother William “Bill” Glenn in 1948 and James “Jim” Ernest in 1954 where they lived on the family farm until 1962. She grew up milking cows and feeding calves and at that time developed a lifelong love of horses. Like her mother and grandmother before her, Linda attended Haxtun schools all 12 years and graduated in 1964 as valedictorian of her graduating class. She was also a member of the National Honor Society and enjoyed participating in plays, played trumpet in the marching, concert and jazz bands, and developed a love of singing while participating in choir and the Choralaires.

Linda was raised in a family that prioritized education. After high school she attended Colorado State University on a full academic scholarship; she attended from 1964-1968. She took a year off following the assinations of Martin Luther King Jr and John F. Kennedy to travel to California with her college friend Ethel with only $200. Linda and Ethel traveled around California and then settled in Oakland. It was here that she met and married Allan Mann on January 11, 1969. Allan served in the navy and was deployed overseas. During his deployment, Linda returned to CSU to complete her degree with distinction in Psychology in December 1969. During her college years she enjoyed mission work and community outreach, including a summer spent working at a housing project in Pittsburgh. After she obtained her degree from CSU, she returned to California. Allan passed away in 1970 in a car accident and Linda returned to Colorado.

When she returned to Colorado, she worked at Foxhovens in Sterling, CO and in 1973 she relocated to Denver to work for Eddie Bauer. She was transferred to Washington state by Eddie Bauer to become a computer operator on an old mainframe computer. While working for Eddie Bauer in Colorado and Washington, she continued doing outreach for local churches focused on hunger and social issues. During her time in Washington, she enjoyed spending time with her cousin Marsha and her 2 children. While working at Eddie Bauer she met John Joseph Battello and they were married April 9, 1977; John was Linda’s soul mate. Into their marriage, John brought his son Anthony “Tony”. Linda grew close to her mother-in-law Ena whom she considered a second mother. Ena taught Linda her secret family pasta sauce recipe that she enjoyed making for her family on special occasions. John and Linda moved to acreage near Kent, Washington where they had a small horse farm. Linda enjoyed taking care of their horses, dogs and cats and often reminisced about what a great time this was in her life. John died February 18, 1982.

While working for the Seattle Crisis Line, a colleague named Shelly recommended Linda to a graduate program in psychology. Linda attended Gonzaga University's Counseling and Psychology graduate program. She graduated in December 1987. Upon graduation she worked at the Chelan-Douglas Mental Health Center in Wenatchee, WA as a County Designated Mental Health Professional. At this time, she completed her certification as a mental health professional in the state of Washington and became a National Certified Counselor. As her parents aged,

Linda decided to return to Colorado. She accepted a position at Centennial Mental Health Center in Burlington, CO in June 1990. That same year, Linda received the call to ministry and began her journey, supported by Pastor Mary Ann Swenson and Elanor Swoboda. She applied and was accepted to the Iliff School of Theology and received her Master of Divinity in May 1995. During this time she continued to work as a crisis counselor for Presbyterian St Luke’s. While at Iliff School of Theology, she worked on peace and justice issues, including serving with the Quakers at the Gathering Center (a place for homeless women and children).

Linda served as a pastor for many years in Nebraska. She served at the following churches; Memorial United Methodist Church, McCook, NE, United West Parish, Kimball-Potter-Bushnell, NE, Community United Methodist Church, Stratton, NE, Monument Valley Parish, Bayard-Melbeta, NE, First United Methodist Church of Gering, Gering, NE. She ended her career at Elise and Madrid United Methodist Churches, Elise and Madrid, NE. She was ordained as a Deacon in 1996 and Elder in 1998 at the Annual Conference. During this time she was selected to participate in the Oxford Round Table in 2006 at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, where she presented a paper entitled, “Reflections from a Chronic Learner, Science Major, Psychologist and Clergywoman in 2006 America.” She was again selected to participate in 2008 and presented a paper entitled “True Believers - Faith and Reason in Public Discourse”. Her niece Jamie accompanied her on this trip. They enjoyed time at the University, and visited locations where Linda’s father had served in World War II and ended their trip in Edinburgh Scotland.

After retirement, Linda moved to Ft. Collins, CO in 2016. She enjoyed spending time with her family, making trips often to Haxtun to visit her mother, brother and sister-in-law Jody, and her niece Jamie, husband Craig and their two children Bella and Jake. She attended as many games and events of Bella and Jake’s as she could. She loved going on adventures with her family, including museum exhibitions, performances at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and loved to take her family once a year to the Brown Palace for brunch at Easter time. Linda also enjoyed trips to Hawaii, Alaska, England, Scotland, Italy and Croatia. She attended First United Methodist Church of Ft. Collins. She is preceded in death by her husband Allan, husband John, father Glenn, mother Jeane and brothers Bill and Jim. She is survived by her sister-in-law Jody, her niece Jamie, husband Craig and children Bella and Jake. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, June 26th at 10:00 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Ft. Collins. For those unable to attend her service in Ft. Collins, there will also be a graveside service Saturday, June 28th at 10:00 a.m. at the Haxtun Cemetery. In lieu of flowers donations can be sent to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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