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Linda Jean Michal

Linda Jean Michal was born Nov. 4, 1947. As a child in Cleveland, Ohio, she dreamed of a log cabin in the woods while excelling in school due to a love of learning. After Shaw High School she graduated from St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in 1968. She then went on to Kent State, where she met and married Ken Poulsen.

Thinking of her childhood dream, they relocated to Denver, Colo. Here she finished her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and also her Certified Nursing Practitioner certification. She was one of the earliest nurse practitioners, having been certified in the mid-’70s.

Linda loved hiking and camping in the mountains, as well as trips to the ocean, where she always felt refreshed and renewed.

They moved to Idaho in ’77, first to Payette, where she worked as a certified nurse practitioner, then to Boise. While in Boise her first pregnancy was the full-term stillbirth of Megan in 1980. In September of ‘82 Ana was born and in September of ‘84 Neal was born. Neal died in February of the next year from SIDS.

Linda loved her work and spent as much time as she could in the mountains and hot springs of southern and central Idaho.

Wanting out of the “big city” brought them to Coeur d’Alene in 1989. A few years later they divorced.

Linda worked at North Idaho College as the director of Student Health and Counseling Services and her last five years as dean of students. Twice during the time at NIC, she served as interim vice president for Student Services. She retired in 2014.

While at the college she was the adviser to the Gay Straight Alliance and was active in establishing and chairing the Crisis Response Team for the college.

Linda always found a calling to serve the marginalized, whether gender, orientation, race, religion or health condition. She felt health was more than just physical and blended all aspects of life into her practice.

She served on the board of North Idaho AIDS Coalition for 10 years, many as president. She volunteered as a nurse practitioner at Lake City Heath Care, which later became Dirne Clinic. Linda was a member of the board of the Human Rights Education Institute for five years. Unity Spiritual Center of North Idaho also was an emphasis in her life.

As her daughter Ana grew, they enjoyed gardening and volunteering and vacations, traveling to national parks and the ocean. Ana was active in high school theater and Linda spent many hours with her, building sets and costumes. Their home was bubbling with youthful energy as a kid’s gathering place.

Ana married Noah Huston in 2004. Linda’s most precious time was being with her two granddaughters. Alice was born 2010 and Lucy in 2014. They became a joyful focus the rest of her life.

In the spring of 2001, Linda met Ernie Hawks, who lived in a small cabin in the woods. They shared a dream of their own log cabin. Outdoor activities quickly became an emphasis in their lives, as well as cultural events such as the theater and concerts.

A year after meeting they found a log cabin on several timbered acres. With much work, vision and creativity they made it into a home. In June of 2004, they married on the porch of the nearly completed home.

After beating cancer in 2013, it returned in the fall of 2019. After a short battle she died on Nov. 19, 2019.

Friends are invited to celebrate her life at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Schuller Auditorium in Boswell Hall, on the North Idaho College campus.

An education fund is being set up through Ana Huston for Alice and Lucy.