Williams said Linda doesn’t know if she will live long enough for federal aid to come through and to see her home rebuilt.

“After Rita, this is very upsetting,” she said. “We’re still trying to get our lives together and someone in the community comes down with a life threatening illness. Sabine Pass is like a family you’ve never seen before.”

Stana Towne, a friend of the couple for the past 35 years, calls Linda fun loving and happy go lucky but adds the cancer is taking its toll on her friend.

“Linda’s brothers came down from Houston and took her out, she fell asleep,” she said. “She told me ‘why do I have to die. I have so much to offer.’”

Linda Ray is the type of mom who attended every one of her children’s school and sporting events and enjoys playing with the grandchildren.

“Something like this affects the whole community,” she said. “We are all like one big family in Sabine Pass.”

To donate, contact Becky Bellard at 971-3663 or send donations to Linda Ray Benefit Fund, account number 1062258, Johnson Space Center Federal Credit Union, 1330 Gemini, Houston, TX. 77058.