Community Sports: Little Leagues were her passion
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
PAUL DANZER Columbian staff writer
They will gather at H.B. Fuller Park on Wednesday to celebrate a life.
Considering all of the time Linda Eastman spent at the Little League fields of Clark County, the ball park is the best place to pay tribute to her.
Linda, who served as the district administrator overseeing 10 area Little Leagues, succumbed to cancer on Friday. Her friends will hold an informal memorial at 8 p.m.Wednesday at the major baseball diamond at the Hazel Dell Little League park. Everyone who knew Linda, or had their life touched by hers, is welcome.
That's a lot of folks. As a T-ball coach, a league president, and a district administrator, Linda poured her heart into Little League.
Her passion, said friend Kirk Miller, was that every girl and boy have a chance to play. She was, he said, "a champion of making things fair for everybody."
That might seem like a never-ending challenge, but Linda didn't seem to mind.
"I'll miss her friendship," Miller said. He'll miss a friend who was always there when something needed to get done.
"You could always count on Linda to be there," Miller said. When the Little Leagues in these parts divided into two districts a couple of years ago, Linda stepped to the plate as the district administrator for the newly-formed District 6. Miller, at Linda's request, took on that job when she became too ill to do it. He will complete her term, which runs through next year.
Those who knew her best talk of how much fun she was, how she had a knack for making people happy. For a top local official for Little League -- an all-volunteer organization -- that trait was especially appreciated.
"She had a real dedication to the program, and she could be everybody's friend," said Mike Ray. Ray is the administrator for the county's other Little League district and a friend who worked on Little League projects with Linda for many years. "She had such great personality, people just loved her."
That personality served her well as a chief promoter and problem-solver for Little League, and as a member of the executive board for the Clark County Youth Sports Foundation. The foundation, headed up by former major league catcher Tom Lampkin, is dedicated to raising funds for facilities and scholarship programs to benefit local youth sports.
"She brought a ton of character to our board," Lampkin said.
She also had a sense of humor that was at least as valued as her character.
"She had a knack for knowing when to lighten the mood," Lampkin said.
Perhaps that is the most fitting way to remember someone who brightened so many lives. Sure, the countless hours she gave reflect the importance she placed on making the Little League experience fun for every kid. But, the enthusiastic way she approached her tasks said a lot about why she kept coming back for more:
She was having fun
