Linda Rader gives new meaning to the term “everyday hero.” While some might call her a crazy cat lady, we, at Furry Friends, call her “an angel here on earth.”

Now, after 23 remarkable and memorable years with us, Linda is retiring.

A recent retiree from her own job, Linda joined Furry Friends in 2001, two years after our founding as our first Adoption Coordinator. She handled the intake of all of the cats, coordinated their care, interviewed potential adopters, oversaw those cats in foster homes, and handled each cat’s adoption.

With so few other volunteers at the time, some of Linda’s additional duties included acting as the medical assistant to our volunteer licensed Veterinary Technician Sandy Bush during the newly arrived cats’ intake examinations, driving them to their various vet appointments and coordinating which cats attended our adoption events. Quite a fulltime job for this so-called retiree!

Selfless in her commitment and devotion, and unwavering in her passion for “all things cat,” Linda has always held both board member and leadership positions within Furry Friends, including Vice President and foster coordinator. Occasionally, cats are deemed unadoptable for various reasons, and over the years, Linda has taken many of them in. At one time she had 13 cats in her small home!

Not surprisingly, where vacations are concerned, Linda has, on six occasions, spent one week at a time at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. After telling them to place her where no one else wanted to volunteer, they put her to work at the cat Leukemia House and Incontinent House.

One of a handful of Furry Friends’ volunteers whose heart’s capacity for giving was endless, Linda Rader not only wins raves from us, she’s been rewarded with 23 years’ worth of loving purrs and kisses from the kitties. All paws up in appreciation of one truly “meow-velous” woman.

Here is what a couple of  friends have to say about Linda.

“I met Linda in 2012 when I started at Furry Friends. I went from a vet clinic to a Furry Friends cat shelter and Linda was there to show me how things worked. She was part of my medical team for quite a while along with everything else she did for Furry Friends. She has taken in many older cats and has given them a great life. Linda has been doing adoptions for longer than I have known her. She has a huge heart for cats and her friends. She loves and cares for the kitties and has devoted herself to the care of them. She is, to this day, a great friend, and a very dear person. I am very lucky she is in my life.     – Sandra Bush”

“Linda is one of the most amazing people I know. I joined Furry Friends in 2014 and Linda was always there helping me find my way and always offering encouraging, thoughtful words to me. She has the best smile and an amazing outlook on life. She cares deeply about the kitties and her friends. She will take on some of the hardest cat cases. She has offered hospice to the cats that won’t be with us much longer, even though it breaks her heart when they go. I appreciate her friendship and she has been such an inspiration to me. It has been a pleasure working with Linda all these years.  –Diane Stevens”

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Furry Friends Volunteer Spotlights are compiled and written by Nomi Berger who is the bestselling author of seven novels, one work of non-fiction, two volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles. She is a volunteer writer for Furry Friends in Vancouver, WA and also volunteers her writing skills to animal rescue groups in Canada and the USA.