Hall of Fame
Linda was a two-sport athlete, competing as the #1 setter on the 1975 volleyball team that placed second at the community college tournament. On the softball diamond, Linda played outfield and batted over .400 for the 1977 season. Although she did not go on to play collegiately after leaving RVC, Linda continued to play competitive volleyball and softball, recreationally. She served as an assistant coach for RVC volleyball in 1978 and worked as an instructor at RVC’s summer high school volleyball clinics in 1981 and 1982. Linda became a certified volleyball referee and refereed Rockford College games for many years.
While at RVC, Linda volunteered at Northwest Community Center (NWCC), teaching volleyball on weekends and during the summer. After graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1977, she was hired to be the full-time Program Director for NWCC. Linda worked in recreation administration for seven years before changing careers and taking jobs in human services in both Illinois and Wisconsin. After 10 years in human services, she became a computer system consultant and worked for 10 years as a Quality Assurance Consultant and Project Manager in Long Beach, California, helping state and local government agencies in California, Colorado, and Florida implement computer system upgrades to support human services programs.
In 2005, Linda and her family moved back to Wisconsin, where she now works as a lead Business Analyst at QBE Insurance in Sun Prairie.
Linda has been very involved in the communities where she has lived and worked. During her time in Long Beach, her and her spouse were very involved in the United Methodist Church and Oasis and Willmore neighborhood programs that served the downtown Long Beach community, including afterschool programs and gang prevention. They also mentored recent immigrants from Nigeria who came to the U.S. to provide a better life for their children. For the past several years, Linda has served as a board member and fundraising chair for Northeast Side Sherman Area Youth Basketball (NESYB). NESYB provides fall/winter and summer basketball programs and academic support to Madison area youth.
Linda and her spouse, Linda Stouffer, have been together over 20 years. They are the proud parents of two children, Andrew, age 18 and attending Illinois State University, and Sarah, age 16, a newly licensed driver and a sophomore in high school.
On her induction into the RVC Athletics Hall of Fame, Linda said, “RVC exposed me to opportunities that I never dreamed were available to me. The amazing sports program, and Coach Gerry McDermott, gave me the confidence to take risks and achieve the success and adventure I have enjoyed. I am honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and very proud to have been part of the evolution of the RVC athletics program.”
