Linda N. Oates

Linda Nelson Oates, of Belmont, MA passed away on March 11th, 2026, after a brief illness. 

Linda was born on April 11th, 1943 in Port Chester, NY, and grew up in Rye, NY, daughter of Margaret (Paskol) and Maurice Nelson, and sister to Maggie and Donald, under the strong influence from her maternal Lithuanian immigrant family which was very tightly woven. 

After high school, Linda moved to New Haven, CT to attend Grace-New Haven nursing school, with the goal of forging a meaningful and practical career. While studying and making lifelong friends, she was introduced to a Yale undergraduate student, Daniel Oates, whom she married in 1965. 

Over the next 13 years, Linda and Daniel lived in various Boston area locales, then in Bonn, Germany, and later in Fairhaven, New Jersey, during which time she earned her BSN from Rutgers in 1977. 

In 1978 Linda and Daniel moved to Belmont, where they settled for good. There, they raised their two daughters, Katherine and Alexandra. In between the births of her daughters, Linda went back to school, at Boston University, where she earned her MPH in 1983. Linda was always a fierce advocate for education, especially for women, as a path to both intellectual fulfillment and financial independence.

Linda had a long career as a nurse in various settings, from Operating Rooms to occupational therapy, and beyond. She was probably most proud of her work at the Faulkner Headache Center, where she assisted with both patient treatment and clinical research on migraine headaches. She spent the final 10 years of her career as the Director of Nursing at Fisher College. She adored her colleagues, loved giving flu shots, managed thousands of immunization records, all amidst the general hustle and bustle of student life at Fisher.

After Linda's retirement, she spent much time dedicated to doting on her grandchildren, Enzo and Fiona, instilling her love of classical music, eventually buying them a keyboard and driving each of them to their weekly piano lessons, and giving them altogether way too many sweets. She absolutely loved being their "Oma". 

When she wasn't working as a nurse or enjoying her family, Linda was serving the town of Belmont. She was first elected as a town meeting member in 1986, and served for 36 years. She was a member of the Warrant Committee from 1997-2009, the Traffic Advisory Committee from 1997-2002, and the Fire Station Consolidation and Building Committees, which culminated in Belmont's beautiful state-of-the-art fire stations on Trapelo Road and Leonard Street. In addition, she was a devoted long-time election worker, making sure no funny business happened at the polls on election day. 

Linda lived for 47 years next to Payson Park, which she considered one of Belmont's town treasures. She was instrumental to tree plantings, supported the Payson Park Music Festival summer concert series, and most recently worked on the Payson Park renovation project. She even coached T-ball in Payson Park in the early 1990s, which she did primarily due to her love of the park and dedication to some 6-year-olds who had no coach, in spite of her stated desire to have absolutely nothing to do with sports. Her neighbors from the Payson Park neighborhood became cherished lifelong friends. 

Linda spent many summer vacations with her family on Cape Cod, enjoying the sun, the sand, and the seafood. In addition to her husband Daniel, daughters Katherine and Alexandra, grandson Enzo and granddaughter Fiona, she is survived by her beloved sons-in-law, Enrique Pizana (Katherine) and Matthew Loftin (Alexandra), all of Belmont. 

Linda was an animal lover, and had many pets of different origin stories over her lifetime. In lieu of flowers, her family suggests donations in Linda's honor to the MSPCA
at www.mspca.org. 

Relatives and friends are kindly invited to gather for visiting hours in the Brown & Hickey Funeral Home, 36 Trapelo Rd, Belmont, Monday, March 16th, from 1:00 - 3:00 PM.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Linda N. Oates, please visit our floral store.