Struthers teacher's offhand remark evolves into husband's special tribute

STRUTHERS

Three days before she died, Linda S. Klacik told her husband something he didn’t think much of at the time.

It was a Friday night, and the couple was attending a Struthers-Poland football game. The huge inflatable tunnel that the Poland Bulldogs ran through before play caught her eye.

“Linda looked at me and said, ‘Wow. I think that’s really classy, really nice,’” recalled Michael Klacik, her husband of 31 years. “She said, ‘It would be nice if Struthers got something like that.’”

On the following Monday, Oct. 7, Linda suffered a massive heart attack. She was just 52 years old, and had been on the job as a full-time third-grade teacher — her dream job — for barely six weeks.

Her comment to Michael didn’t sink in until months later.

“It was an omen that she mentioned it to me,” he said.

Michael called up Joseph Nohra, superintendent of Struthers City Schools, and told him he wanted to donate a similar inflatable tunnel to the school district in Linda’s memory.

At the Aug. 28 home game against Campbell Memorial High School, the tunnel will make its debut.

Read more about this special tribute in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.