Giant Eagle cake decorator in Cranberry had loyal fans

Linda Bainer decorated cakes for all occasions.

In the 27 years she worked as a cake decorator at Giant Eagle in Cranberry, she turned the grocery store’s kitchen into an art studio, creating cakes to look like just about anything her customers had the imagination to request for their birthdays, anniversaries and other special events.

“Linda had a knack for doing what people wanted,” said her sister Janet Karmitzski of Verona. “She could work from photographs or comic book pictures to create unique designs. She knew all the kids’ characters and she loved doing things like starbursts and firework explosions.”

The fun-loving cake artist from Aspinwall never settled for anything but the best for her customers at Giant Eagle, and was always looking to try new decorating techniques died Friday after collapsing in the parking lot of Sam’s Club in Tarentum, five months after being diagnosed with heart disease. She was 67.

Ms. Bainer had been on a leave of absence from her job since around mid-June, which is right around the time her health had begun to decline.

“Customers have been asking about her,” said Kristina Bland, a Giant Eagle bakery employee who has worked with Ms. Bainer for 10 years. “She was one of the most talented decorators we’ve ever had here. She personalized everything. She talked to customers with feeling.

“She did drawings on cakes,” Ms. Bland said. “Everything she did she put her heart and soul into it, and her cakes were the most beautiful things in the [pastry] case.”

A native of Clarksville, Greene County, Ms. Bainer moved to Pittsburgh looking for work shortly after turning 18 years of age. She started out as a secretary, but found her calling as a cake decorator after being hired at Periwinkle’s Bakery in Harmar.

Ms. Bainer never attended pastry school. She learned everything she knew about cake decorating on the job. Studying under the watchful eye of a skilled decorator, she perfected her skills, and after a short while took a job in 1990 as a cake decorator at Giant Eagle in Cranberry, where she developed a loyal following.

For all the years she worked at the Cranberry Giant Eagle store, she made a 40-minute trip each way to and from home.

Ms. Karmitzski said the store was independently owned, which meant her sister could not transfer to another Giant Eagle store that was closer to her home without losing the benefits she had built up over the years.

“It was worth the drive to her,” Ms. Karmitzski said. “She loved her job. She found something she could really enjoy doing. She found her niche in life.”

Besides her sister, Ms. Bainer is survived by a daughter, Lynn Ray of Houston; and sisters Eileen Coll of Zelienople and Mary Ann Hill of Lancaster, Pa.

Visitation is from 4-8 p.m. Monday at Weddell-Ajak Funeral Home, 100 Center Ave., Aspinwall.

A parting prayer will be held at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home, followed by a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church, 825 Second St., Verona. Burial is at Greene County Memorial Park in Waynesburg.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the American Heart Association, 444 Liberty Ave., Suite 1300, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.