Linda Ilona Jahoula Spurlin went to be with the Lord on May 16, 2022, at the age of 100 years, nine months and 26 days. She passed away peacefully at Inter-Faith Care Center in Carlton. Linda was born July 20, 1921, to John and Tynne Jahoula, the third of five children.

Unfortunately, early in her life Linda entered foster care, and she and her siblings Melvin Jahoula, George Jahoula, Ester Bicknase and Milton Jahoula were split up to be cared for. Thankfully, Linda found a home with the Dosdall family and was raised in Hancock with their children George, Edward, Ted, Glenn, Henry and Edith. Linda met her loving husband, Guy Spurlin, in Hancock, and they married Nov. 14, 1940, when she was 19. They lived in Hancock at the beginning of their life together, then moved their family to Nevis, where they worked a farm. Finally they arrived in Cloquet, where Linda started caring for foster children as well as her own five children while Guy worked in the timber industry.

Linda joins her husband, Guy; three of her five children, Tim Spurlin, Faith Nelson and Barbara Mills; and one granddaughter, Annette Finnila, in heaven. She was also preceded in death by all her biological and foster siblings. She is survived by her daughters Janet Oachs and Phylis Neimi, and 18 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren. We know Linda is now resting in the Lord’s arms, as she was a faithful Christian woman. Linda Ilona Jahoula Spurlin lived a long, fulfilling, and resilient life.

Visitation: 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. funeral service Monday, June 6 at the Journey Christian Church in Cloquet. Burial will be in Maple Grove Cemetery in Cloquet. Arrangements are by Whispering Pines Funeral & Cremation Service.

Pine Knot News June 3, 2022