Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, June 18, 2026 at Gibson-Bode Funeral Home, Erie. Memorial services will be at 2:00 p.m. Friday at Newton Zion Reformed Church, 10465 Frog Pond Road, Erie. Burial will follow in Kingsbury Cemetery, rural Erie. Memorials may be made to City of Hope for cancer research.
Linda was born September 11, 1951 in Clinton, Iowa, the daughter of John and Dorothy (DeWeerdt) Heun. She grew up on the family farm in Newton Township. She attended Newton Township grade school and middle school and graduated from Erie High School in 1969. Linda went on to attend nurses training at Moline Lutheran School of Nursing, graduating in 1971.
She then married Charles Brown, Jr. on January 28, 1972. Shortly after they married, they started a family raising two children, Jen & Chris. She enjoyed her time at home raising the kids, along with gardening and baking. As her kids grew older, she decided to rejoin the workforce working at River Cities Internal Medicine in Clinton, Iowa.
She remarried on August 14, 1999, to Ronald Van Zuiden and made their home in Fulton, IL. In early 2009, Ron and Linda moved to Erie and Linda finished her career in nursing as the school nurse for the Erie School District, retiring in 2014.
Linda loved her family which she was so proud of. She enjoyed watching her grandchildren compete in sports and following their many activities. She was a terrific baker and loved spending time baking at Harvest Bakery with her Harvest family. Some other hobbies included antiquing, gardening, journaling, reading cookbooks, bird watching, and taking day trips to Amish country.
Linda was a member of Newton Zion Reformed Church. She was a servant of God and had a strong faith that carried her through her nearly three year battle with cancer. Through this journey she never lost her faith in God and spent countless hours praying with and for all those around her.
She is survived by her husband, Ron; children Jen (Drew)Temple, Chris (Angie) Brown, Ronda (Bob) Stauffer, Deandra (Patrick) Hoover, Alicia (Brian) Bonnema, Daron (Desiree) Van Zuiden, David (Lacy) Van Zuiden; grandchildren Katelyn (Owen) McConnell, Brynn and Caleb Brown, Jessica (Jason) Carbajal, Jenna (Alec) Frame, Ethan (Braylee) Hoover, Madelynn Hoover, Olivia, Jackson, Evan, Ava, and Nolan Bonnema, Brody, Brooks, Daughtrey, Gavyn, and Greysen Van Zuiden, Jerzee and Zayden Van Zuiden; great grandchildren, Brior, Wrenlee, and Ruth McConnell, Emma, Liam, Rylan, Maddox and Tinleigh Carbajal, Caden, Drake, Hudson, Charleigh, and Blakely Frame, and Carter, Cage and Camryn Dann; siblings, Paul (Nancy) Heun, Karen (Randy) Pearl, Carol (David) Franks, and Julie (Nick) Rolland, and her entire Harvest family. She was preceded in death by her parents and grandson, Michael Dann.
Special thank you to all of her doctors & nurses who provided such loving care; especially Rhonda Misfeldt, APRN and Amit Patel, MD.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Linda D., please visit the floral store. Condolences can be shared at gibsonbodefh.com.
