Nancy J. Link, 67, a retired secretary, died of complications from multiple myeloma Thursday, May 9, in her Palatine home. Described by her husband, Thomas, as a “passionate environmentalist,” Mrs. Link became involved with the Prairie Woods Audubon Society of the Northwest Suburbs after she and her family moved to Palatine in 1975. Until the mid-1990s, she helped raise funds and helped organize controlled burns in the Palatine Prairie. She was born and raised in Akron, graduated from St. Vincent’s High School and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Akron. After college she worked as a secretary for BF Goodrich and for the Summit County probation office, both in Akron. In 1958 and 1959, she was a flight attendant with Trans World Airlines in Kansas City. She and her husband married in 1960 and the family lived in Washington and Scottsdale, Ariz., before settling in Palatine. She wrote letters to politicians in support of environmental legislation and volunteered at a Public Action to Deliver Shelter homeless facility. Mrs. Link was a secretary for T.H. Snyder Co. in Inverness in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Other survivors include two sons, James and Stephen; a daughter, Catherine Elstad; and three grandkids. Prayers will be said at 9:30 a.m. Monday in Ahlgrim & Sons Funeral Home, 201 N. Northwest Highway, Palatine. Mass will follow at 10 a.m. in St. Theresa Catholic Church, 467 N. Benton St., Palatine.
