A Tribute to Linda Dentler

It is with heavy hearts that Living Cully shares news of the passing of a treasured leader in our community, Linda Dentler. Linda lived at the Arbor Mobile Home Park for 14 years, and was a friend and source of light for many neighbors at the Arbor and beyond. She passed away last week at her home, surrounded by friends and neighbors.

Linda was centrally involved in Living Cully’s affordable housing advocacy over the past several years. She was a stalwart member of the Cully Housing Action Team (CHAT) and the Cully Mobile Home Program. She was often the first to show up at community meetings, along with her beloved dog Pooky, and her dear friends Lu and Sonya.

Linda was front-and-center in mobile home residents’ 2018 campaign to preserve all 57 manufactured housing parks in Portland through a historic zoning change. In her powerful testimony before the Planning and Sustainability Commission last June, Linda told commissioners that she wouldn’t be able to afford a home at all if it were not for her mobile home park. She spoke about learning a few words of Spanish so that she could better connect with her neighbors.

Linda also starred in a video produced by PSU students in which she discusses the home repairs that she received from Multnomah County. She often encouraged her neighbors to apply for the same weatherization program, citing the improvements in her quality of life and savings on her utility bills.

When the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) was approved by voters last November, Linda was interviewed by KGW TV about the energy efficiency upgrades that she had received at her home, as an example of the projects that PCEF will fund in the coming years.

Linda will be remembered for her relentless joy and wit, her sense of humor, her smile, her love of animals, the unique and funky decorations at her home, and her commitment to her friends and her community. Rest in peace, Linda. You will be missed and loved, always.