Obituary of Linda J. Lawler

A Resident of Capitola, California Linda passed away peacefully July 6th 2021 in her home in Capitola California with her sons, Steven and James and Geno Benvenuto, her partner of 42 years by her side. She was preceded in death by her mother Marian and father Bill Lawler. Linda was born 4//4/1951 in Chicago. She attended Loyola University and Northwestern University and earned a master's in psychology. She worked at Northwest Mental Health Clinic in Arlington Heights, Il and had a private practice out of her home in Evanston. As a psychotherapist she helped many people heal from trauma and abuse. Linda and Geno loved to travel to Italy and Greece as well as all around the United States and really enjoyed their visits to California on vacations. In 1999 they discovered the beach town of Capitola, California and moved there in 2002 while Geno maintained his business in Evanston. In Capitola she continued raising her 2 sons and enjoyed gardening, the natural beauty of the central coast and beach town living. In 2008 she, with her husband, opened Gaia Earth Treasures, a mineral, crystal, and jewelry store in the Village of Capitola. Linda loved Minerals and Crystals for they beauty and their metaphysical properties and loved teaching and sharing her knowledge with her customers. She and the store were well known and respected all along the central coast for the amazing collection of specimens for sale. Many tourists became regulars over the years. She often gave young children their first specimens to encourage their interest and they loved to come back. She was loved by all her friends, family, many nieces and nephews and as one niece put it "what stood out most was her happy, creative free spirit; she was the cool aunt". Linda stood by her principles and never backed down from speaking her mind, always defending what she cared about. Linda was generous and kind to those less fortunate. She loved animals and always had a couple of cats and a dog her whole life. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the S.P.C.A would be a wonderful commemoration to her loving spirit and energy. Please watch Linda's video, below is the link:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tzAx-RX6NK2Z5rWPSw2o-KKiDqvcicvh/view?usp=sharing