Linda Carol (Newland) Barouska

Linda Carol (Newland) Barouska was born in South Bend, IN, on July 9th, 1949, to Fred and Donna (Langdon) Newland. She grew up with two siblings, a brother, Larry Newland, and a sister, Dawn (Podlewski) Van Vooren.  Linda is survived by her husband, David E. Barouska, her father, Fred Newland; three sons, Chris (Kathy), Eric and Jeff (Ashley) Barouska and three grandchildren, Dalton, Rogan and Sabrina;  sister-in-law, Robin Newland; and nephews, Aaron Newland and Scott Van Vooren; and niece, Sandra Newland Bay.

Linda spent her life in the South Bend, IN, area.  She attended St. Matthew’s Catholic elementary school and graduated from Riley High School in 1967.  Linda then pursued her education at the Memorial Hospital school of nursing and graduated in 1970.  While at nursing school she met her future husband David E. Barouska, and they married on February 27th, 1970.

“She was my pen pal.  I looked forward to every letter while serving in Vietnam with the Navy.  Her letters offered me comfort and solace in an uncertain world.  With every letter my fondness for Linda grew until our first meeting when I knew that we should be together forever…”

Once Dave completed his service with the United States Navy in November of 1970, they began their life together.

Dave and Linda welcomed three sons into the world:  Chris in 1970; Eric in 1973; and Jeff in 1976.  They moved from South Bend to Mishawaka in 1973 and from Mishawaka to Granger in 1980.  In 2008 Dave and Linda built a home in Elkhart where she resided for the remainder of her days.

Linda had many things that piqued her interest throughout the years.  She was an avid reader and loved to travel.  She enjoyed all of the family vacations they went on together to places such as Yellowstone, Mammoth Cave, and Niagra Falls, to name a few.  Once the children were older and on their own Dave and Linda took many cruises to the Caribbean, the Baltic, the Mediterranean, and British Isles.  Linda also liked to needlepoint and cross stitch and many of those projects adorn the walls of her home.

Linda was an RN at Memorial Hospital in South Bend for 43 years.  She made many lifelong friends while there.  Linda worked in the surgery department from 1971 to 1995.  In 1995, Linda was instrumental in the creation of the Pre-admission Assessment office at Memorial Hospital.  She retired in 2015 and one of her favorite things to do in retirement was to reunite with her nursing friends.

In 2021 Linda began at home dialysis due to kidney failure.  Being tethered to her home was not acceptable to her.  She had more traveling to do and so decided to explore the possibility of kidney transplant. She began that process and was approved for transplant.  On October 2nd, 2022, she received the call she had been waiting for.  Her kidney transplant was completed on October 3rd, 2022.  Unfortunately, after nearly 8 months of setbacks and complications Linda suffered an unrecoverable stroke on May 25th, 2023. With no hope of recovery, Linda was moved to the Center for Hospice in Mishawaka, IN.   Linda Carol Barouska passed peacefully in the presence of her family on Wednesday, June 7th, 2023.

In accordance with her wishes there will be no services.