Linda Shroyer has been through a lot of “yesterdays” to get where she is now.
The 67-year-old has buried two husbands. Last year, she lost her daughter. Grief forced her to start over each time, and picking up the pieces often meant needing food assistance. Sharp-witted, selfless, and (in her own words) “bullheaded,” Linda keeps up her strength through faith.
“If it wasn’t for Mid-Ohio Foodbank, I would have been hungry lots of times,” Linda said. “I don’t know what my tomorrow is. All I know is I’m ready for whatever God has for me.”
Linda has shopped at the Mid-Ohio Market at Gantz Road for about a year. There, she and hundreds of her neighbors can pick up pantry staples, fresh produce, bread, milk, and more up to once a week. It’s not the first time she’s accepted help with food.
When her daughters Gail and Christina were young, Linda was married to their father. He’d misuse their rent money, she said, and they got evicted several times. In the years before electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards, Linda would stand in line for physical, printed food stamps. Gail would hold her hand while she held Christina on her hip. Her husband waited in the car.
“One day, I thought ‘this is it. I’m done,’” she said. “It was my responsibility as a mother to get them out of that situation. I’d give my life for my kids if I had to.”
Linda’s friend Brad gave them a place to stay when she left her husband. They eventually fell in love. Brad became like a father to Gail and Christina, even walking Gail down the aisle at her wedding. For 31 years, Linda and Brad lived happily in their Columbus home.
Linda hoped to never use food assistance again. But when Brad died unexpectedly in 2010, she had to reconsider. It was one of the hardest things she’s ever done.
Linda moved in with her sister because she couldn’t afford to keep her house on one income. Someone told her about a nearby food pantry, but she initially brushed them off, saying others likely needed the food more than she did.
“There’s a lot of people worse off than me. I’m a giver more than a taker,” she said. “But pride will get you nowhere.”
As she stood in line with other pantry shoppers, she saw “normal people who just needed help.” That’s when it clicked that she was just as deserving of help as they were, she said.
When Linda was 55, she slipped and badly hurt her back while working as a housekeeper. It left her unable to hold a job, and she started receiving disability benefits. Around that time, she was also diagnosed with diabetes. Out of stubbornness, she initially refused to take insulin. It was her third husband Ron who convinced her to.
Ron had been Brad’s best friend. He was the spitting image of Kenny Rogers, said Linda, and he lost his wife at about the same time Brad passed away. He and Linda bonded over the loss of their spouses. Ron encouraged Linda to find peace with uncertainty and take life one day a time. They were together for 12 years before he died of heart complications in 2022.
“When Ron died, I thought ‘here we go again, by myself,” she said. “My mind was everywhere.”
After his death, Linda had only $50 a month left after covering expenses, so she moved by herself to an affordable senior apartment. Eventually, Linda found the Mid-Ohio Market at Gantz Road. It’s helped her save money while she rebuilds her finances yet again.
But last year was another filled with deep loss. Her daughter Gail died of cardiac arrest in July 2024 while living in Oregon.
“We’d FaceTime and she’d say, ‘mom, hold my hand,’ and we’d talk. The hardest part was that I wasn’t there to let her know that mommy’s here,” said Linda. “Gail was my armor. She was strong, just like me.”
In grief, Linda has once again found solace in faith. She finds peace knowing that Gail and Brad are together with God now—“probably up there making fun of me,” she added, laughing.
Linda said she’s happy now, all things considered. She has her daughter Christina, her grandkids, her dog, and her boyfriend. And slowly, Linda’s working toward food security. She hopes to be financially stable within a few months.
Rebuilding it all again wouldn’t be possible without MOFC’s help, she said. She thanks God for leading her there and for the friendships she’s made.
“After so many deaths and disappointments, I’m still here. I’m going to be okay. I’m going to make it,” said Linda, echoing Ron’s words. “I just have to take it one day at a time.”
