Linda Shell was the daughter of Donald Martin and Irene Delores. She graduated from Waldorf High School in 1972. In 2007 she was hired to work as an advertising representative for the Star Eagle.
By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
A little after 2 p.m. on Thursday, December 16, 2021, Linda Shell was pronounced dead at the scene of a car accident after a collision with a semi-truck at the intersection of Mainstreet in Pemberton and Highway 83. Linda was hired in 2007 by then office manager Tracie Rosacker to work as an advertising representative for the Star Eagle newspaper. Three years ago she began working for the Janesville Journal where publisher Tracie Rosacker said, "We couldn't really afford to pay her when she started and I told her that. But before I knew it we couldn't afford not to have her."
In her time with both publications, and at one time the Good News Magazine, Linda spoke with hundreds of local businesses across Southern Minnesota and got to know many more who walked through the doors of the Star Eagle and Janesville Journal. Her efforts made it possible for these publications to focus on providing quality news stories that readers have come to admire.
"Her loss is a blow to the hearts of each and everyone us in the community," Rosacker said. "Linda knew everybody. Wherever we went together, someone always knew Linda. "Doing her job made it possible for me to do mine, for all of us to do our jobs. There will never be another Linda Shell."
When Rosacker learned the news of her friend of 20 plus years and longtime employee dying she broke down. "Linda always said this wasn't just a job to her. We were her family. The last thing she told me the day before, after our office Christmas party, was that she loved me, all of us… I just can't believe this happened."
Star Eagle publisher Eli Lutgens, Rosacker's son, said the loss devastated him. "I came into work Friday morning and she wasn't here. I called her twice before I got the phone call telling me what happened. "Linda told me she'd always be here. I can't believe this happened."
Linda was 67 years old and the mother of two kids she was incredibly proud of. "She was just telling me how her daughter made partner at her firm," Lutgens went on. "Linda was so incredibly proud of her kids."
Rest in peace Linda. We all miss you terribly.