Linda Svec, age 78, of Marshalltown, was called to take care of all Heaven’s cats on the afternoon of Friday, July 23rd. Her death came peacefully in the comfort of her home with family at her side and in care of the Iowa River Hospice. Memorial services will be held at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, July 29th, at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home. Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. until the service time. Memorials may be directed to Iowa River Hospice. For condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. Ph. 641-844-1234. Born Linda Shaffer on July 11th, 1943, in Marshalltown, she was one of two children born to Cloe and Mabel K. “Kay” (Whiting) Shaffer. Linda graduated from the Marshalltown High School’s Class of 1961. While working at Kresge’s on Main and Center Streets in Marshalltown, she met a young Jim Svec who started working there after leaving employment at Dunham-Bush and returning from the USMC. The young couple was united in marriage on May 19th, 1966, in Ackley, IA. They made their home on a farm near Liscomb until moving to their home in Marshalltown in 1970. Linda was employed for over 27 years at Kresge’s and then K-Mart. She retired as secretary and office manager from the Estel-Perrin-Avey Funeral Home in January of 2008. She was a member of the Central Iowa Camera Club and the Kiwanis Club Queens. Her life was full of love for her family and not a day went by that she did not treasure her family, cats, the birds outside, squirrels or her garden. Her grandsons were her pride and joy and daily she kept a tab on what they were doing. She would call it “concern”; they would call it “20-Questions.” She loved doing crafts, plant shopping in the spring and craft shows anytime with daughter Jami, staying up late watching TV, dying Easter eggs with the grandsons and watching the Green Bay Packers. She was at their exhibition game in Cedar Rapids in 1966 and became a lifetime fan since. If you watched a game with her, you might notice she lost her cherub-like demeanor! With COVID-19, her concern was not getting to the library to check out books- she read 5-6 books a week. Her life was based on caring for others. Left to cherish her memory are Jim, her loving husband of 55 years, her daughter Jami (Wendell) Dolezal of Marshalltown, grandsons Trevor Dolezal and Jarod Dolezal of Marshalltown, sister-in-law Jo Shaffer of Granbury, TX., her precious cats and many other family members and friends. In death, she rejoined her parents, daughter Lori, brother Bill and several cats she dearly loved.