Linda Collins Maurer: Inspiration for creation of MedicAlert network

The Modesto Bee
Melanie Turner
October 16, 2004

Linda Collins Maurer, known for her distinguished career as a golfer and for being the first member of Turlock-based MedicAlert, died Wednesday at her home after a 20-year battle with breast cancer. She was 65.

She was born March 10, 1939, in Turlock and lived there all her life. When she was a teenager, she almost died from an allergic reaction to a tetanus shot after cutting her finger.

Her physician father, Marion C. Collins, wanted to protect her from ever getting the same kind of shot. He and his wife, Chrissie Woolcock Collins, ordered a custom-made bracelet for Linda — with an inscription warning medical personnel not to give her tetanus antitoxin.

In 1956 they founded Medic-Alert in their garage. Linda's bracelet, the original, went to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. MedicAlert bracelets and pendants list medical conditions and a hot line number that emergency personnel can call for more information. MedicAlert is the largest such organization in the world, with more than 4 million members in more than 20 countries.

Dr. Collins died in 1977 and Chrissie Collins in 2001. Ms. Maurer's ex-husband, John Maurer of Angels Camp, said he and his then-wife traveled extensively for about a decade, from London to Africa, to publicize MedicAlert. The two remained friends after their divorce in the early 1990s. "She was a competitive person. She loved to argue," he said. "She's a good mother and an excellent teacher. She was very meticulous when it came to the golf swing." Ms. Maurer taught at River Oaks Golf Course in Ceres for more than 20 years.

As an amateur, she was a two-time California Women's Golf Association champion, a six-time Northern California Golf Association champion, and placed 27th in the 1964 U.S. Open. As a professional, she twice won the Ladies Professional Golf Association Senior Teaching Division National Championship.

John Maurer said she twice won the San Francisco city tournament, twice won a national tournament for military dependents, and once won the Mexican Amateur Tournament in Mexico City. Her score of 69 remains the women's record at Turlock Country Club, he said. Peers said she was a "consummate professional" who was always positive and upbeat.

"Linda was a fabulous lady," said Shane Balfour, director of golf at Diablo Grande, west of Patterson. "She was really, really an outstanding role model for others to follow in women's and men's golf."

Balfour, who knew Ms. Maurer for 25 years, said he admired her tenacity and professionalism both on and off the course. "She had an extraordinarily strong desire to play golf as long as she could walk or drive a golf cart," he said. "She was a good teacher of the game," said Greg Silva, director of instruction at River Oaks. "She will be missed."

Joseph Gallo, a recent student, said Ms. Maurer was "absolutely the best golf instructor I ever met." She was a nice person, as well, he said. "Very considerate. Conscientious. A real student of the game." To her children, she was a loving and devoted mother.

"She instilled in us values of responsibility and perseverance," said her son, Paul Collins Maurer of Turlock. "She always supported my choices whether she agreed with them or not," said daughter Kathryn Maurer of Alameda. She said her two sons will miss their grandmother. "She was not the baking-cookies kind of grandma," she said. "She was, 'Let's go play golf or play cards.'"

Ms. Maurer received a bachelor's degree and a registered nurse degree from Stanford University. Besides her children Paul and Kathryn, she is survived by another daughter, Karry Walker of Oakland; brothers, Michael Collins of Texas and Thomas Collins of Arizona; sister, Margaret Gilbert-Collins of Arizona; and two grandchildren.

A memorial service will be at 1p.m. Wednesday at St. Francis Episcopal Church, Turlock. Burial is private. Allen Mortuary, Turlock, in charge of arrangements. A reception is planned after the service at the MedicAlert Foundation, 2323 Colorado Ave., Turlock.

Remembrances may be made to the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, P.O. Box 224523, Dallas, TX 7522-4523