Linda Vaughan

Linda ElizabethTreat Vaughan’s life ended too soon on February 7th, 2012. She was 58. Linda was born in Los Angeles, California at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital on September 18, 1953. She was the middle of three daughters born to her parents, Paul and Elizabeth (Betty) Treat.

Linda was raised in Fullerton, California and attended Raymond Elementary School, Wilshire Junior High and Fullerton Union High School. Linda was hard working and industrious. She various jobs throughout her life, starting with working at the restaurant, Charley Brown’s Steak house, a large insurance company, various large banks as a teller, a construction company in Santa Barbara, an interior design company in Santa Monica, but her favorite job was working for her friend, Debbie Hemling, grooming animals at the Veterinary Hospital in Ketchum. When she could no longer work for Debbie, she boarded the dogs of Debbie’s customers as a side job, which brought her much joy and connection to the community. She had a great love for the animals she cared for in the valley.

In her youth, Linda was an excellent seamstress and made her homecoming princess dress without a pattern from a photo on the cover of a magazine. She and her mother had many fond memories of sewing projects into the wee hours of the morning. Linda was an excellent rider. She loved horses and riding her horse Rusty as a young teenager was another highlight of her childhood along with her experiences of going to camp.

She married Greg Vaughan in 1986 and gave birth the following year to her only child, Stephanie Elizabeth, 24. Greg and Linda moved to Hailey, Idaho in 1994 and subsequently divorced.

Linda was a self taught master gardener. She loved gardening and transformed the landscape of every home she ever lived in. It was one of her passions. She was an excellent cook as well. Linda was meticulous and deliberate in everything she did.

She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 41. She did well with her disease until about the last 10 years, where her mobility declined with each passing year and life grew increasing difficult. She had many angels in the Bellevue area that came to her assistance and her family thanks all of those people who came forth in their own way.

Linda loved Idaho’s Sun Valley and everything about it in all of its beauty. She loved the nature, the small town experience, the Wood River, and she loved to fish. Magic Reservoir was just one of the many spots she loved to fish and hang out at.

Linda was a very gentle and kind person. People most often describe her as sweet. She was beautiful both on the outside and the inside. She exhibited tremendous courage and grace in facing the “take aways”, the direct result of her MS. She had a way of making people feel very special and took a genuine interest in those that helped her through her daily activities. She was a loving mother, who loved her daughter very much and was particularly delighted to become a grandmother last year as Stephanie gave birth to a her grandson, Jakobi Laroy, now 9 months old. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her, especially by her family. May she rest in peace for eternity.

Donations may be made in her memory to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society 900 S. Broadway, Suite 200, Denver, CO 80209.

She is survived by, her daughter, Stephanie Vaughan, her grandson, Jakobi Johnson, her ex-husband, Greg Vaughan, her mother, Elizabeth Ann Treat, her sisters Karen Treat and Paula Duffy and nieces, Shannon and Lauren Duffy, aunt, Anita Warfel and cousins, Ken and Dawn Dunn, William Dunn, aunt Betty Fischer, cousins, Cliff and Gail Fischer and Susie and Jeff Hardin, uncle Richard and Nancy Treat, cousins, Alan Treat, Diane and Paul Jacobson, and Carol Treat