Linda was a dear friend from 1st grade at St. John’s grade school till graduation ????‍???? a wonderful, fun friend ❤️ I was so proud of her drive and caring soul ????

Linda Cumpsten, the owner of the popular 5th Street Malt Shop & Soda Fountain in downtown Windsor, died of heart failure Monday night. Cumpsten, who owned the business with her life partner of 20 years, Vern Rasmussen, was 56. Cumpsten watched the Windsor Harvest Festival parade go by her home on Walnut Street on Monday morning and passed away after eating dinner at Austin’s Homestead in Water Valley later that night. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church, 1250 7th St., in Windsor. Two message boards have been placed in front of the malt shop for friends to write messages and prayers for Cumpsten. Rasmussen said Cumpsten worked at the malt shop a day before she died. On July 1, 2008, Cumpsten suffered a heart attack at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland a day after being admitted for a toe infection. Cumpsten spent two weeks in the hospital back then and the doctor told her family that she never would leave the hospital alive. Cumpsten survived the heart attack, but her heart sustained a lot of damage and she was told by her doctor that she would have three years to live. She still managed to work at the malt shop and soda fountain. In an interview with Windsor Now in August 2008, Cumpsten spoke about her ordeal. “The doctor said maybe three years out you’ll have another one, and that will be it,” Cumpsten said in the interview to Windsor Now. “I’m shooting for 60 (years of age). I’m just determined not to succumb to their expectations. I’ve always managed to bounce back, and this is my intention this time.” Cumpsten, who grew up in Loveland and moved to Windsor in 1995, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 46 years ago at the age of 10. She had eye damage from the diabetes. She also had a kidney transplant in 1988. Her sister, Marylyn Boyd of Windsor, was the donor.