Linda (Matrona) Susan Adams, of Milwaukie, Oregon
Linda Adams passed away in her home on July 20, 2016 after a four-year battle with ovarian cancer. Linda died peacefully, in the care of family, friends, and clergy.

Linda entered this world on April 19, 1950 in Los Angeles, California. She grew up in L.A. with her parents, Edgar Leland and Mary Ann (LaValle) Gough, and her two younger siblings, Christine and Thomas.
Linda attended the Catholic schools, St. Bridget of Sweden and Alemany High School, in the San Fernando Valley. She began college at Cal State Northridge. It was there she met Sam Adams, whom she married. Sam’s draft during the Vietnam War brought them to Oahu, Hawaii. Linda finished her nursing degree at the University of Hawaii and began her nursing career, living with Sam and her step-daughter, Christiane. In Hawaii, her first son, James, was born and died in an auto accident, and her son, Scott, and her daughter, Kathleen, were born.

Later, Linda and her family moved to the Portland, Oregon area where she lived out the remainder of her life. For a while, Linda continued her career as a nurse, later becoming an instructor of nursing at the University of Portland and Oregon Health Sciences University. During this time, her youngest child, Carolyn, was born.

Linda’s career in nursing developed in her a strong interest in labor and delivery. As a labor and delivery nurse, she was a first-hand witness to the way care was typically provided. While those she worked with provided top notch medical care, she felt something was missing and she thought she could provide it. With no small amount of fear over the risk she was taking, Linda went back to school, received a Masters degree, and became a Certified Nurse Midwife at a time where midwife-assisted delivery in hospitals was still relatively rare.
Linda found a position at Northwest Women’s Clinic with a group of doctors that shared her vision of improving the way maternity care was given. It was here that she began and ended her midwifery practice, helping bring thousands of new lives into this world. It was only the effects of ovarian cancer that was able to pull her away from the work she loved.

During the later years of her life, Linda was a devout Orthodox Christian and a regular attendant at the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Milwaukie, Oregon. At her baptism, she took the name Matrona, both to honor Saint Matrona of Moscow and because of the association of the word «matrona» with midwifery. At one point, Linda’s love for Christ and love for others brought her to Kenya, where she participated in an Orthodox mission by providing medical care to those in need.

Linda was preceded in death by her son, James, and her parents. She is survived by her daughter, Christiane (Christopher) Blakemore, her son, Scott (Kateryna) Adams, her daughters, Kathleen and Carolyn Adams. She will be dearly missed by her beloved grandchildren, Emmalie Blakemore, and Aleksey, Ilya, and Anastasiya Adams.

Special thanks to all those who were there for Linda during her battle with cancer and more than a month in hospice. Those include Kathleen Hensch-Fleming, who attended more chemotherapy sessions with Linda than can be counted. Also included are Connie Shank, Maria Elliot, Father Matthew Tate, other clergy, and all others who were with her and cared for her in this difficult time of her life.

A funeral service will be held at the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Milwaukie, Oregon, on Thursday, July 28, at 1:00 PM.

A graveside service will be held at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in Seattle, Washington, on Friday, July 29, at 1:00 PM.