Linda Gay Rauch

Linda Gay (Irby) Rauch, 81, of Aurora passed away  Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. She was born July 3, 1940, in Aurora, the daughter of Luther Landis and Marcella Catherine (Wallace) Irby.
Rauch was a 1958 graduate of Aurora High School. In her younger years she worked for Midwest Map Company and Sullivan’s Jewelry. In 1961, she married her high school sweetheart, Tom Rauch. She was a stay at home mother to her three girls and later earned her real estate license and worked for Gold Real Estate. In 1984, she became an entrepreneur and opened the Houn Dawg Flea Market in downtown Aurora. She loved visiting with people and sharing her love of collectibles for 30 years at her flea market. She had been a member of Beta Sigma Phi, the Historical Society of Aurora, and she was a member of the Aurora United Methodist Church.
Rauch is survived by her husband, Thomas Rauch; three daughters, Tammi Mattox (Brian), Renee Neill (Mike), and Leslie Piar (Pete); eight grandchildren; six nieces; two nephews; one sister-in-law, Phyllis Coonrod; one brother-in-law, James O. Rauch, and other family and friends.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Luther and Marcella (Wallace) Irby; two sisters and their husbands, Carol and Vic Rapp and Gloria and Eddie Gold; and two nephews, Gregory Gold and Steven Gold.
A celebration of life, under the direction of the Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home, in Aurora, will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, at the Aurora United Methodist Church, with burial to follow at the Maple Park Cemetery in Aurora. Visitation was from 5-7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, in the funeral home chapel.
Memorial donations may be made payable to the Aurora United Methodist Church or the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Springfield.
Online condolences may be shared at www.CraftonCantrellFuneralHome.com.