Only the Good Die Young - We Lost A Good One
Mood:  sad
Now Playing: Ode to Joy (Tanya loved Beethoven)

Tanya Egan March 12, 1970 - July 11, 2005 My beautiful sister-in-law, Tanya (Bridges) Egan, has lost her three year battle with lymphoma and is now with the angels. She passed into the next world on July 11, 2005 between 9:30 pm and 9:45 pm Pacific time. She was a beautiful person both inside and out, we were blessed to have the time we did with her, and our world will never be the same without her. An amazing thing happened just after Tanya's heart had stopped beating and all the ICU equipment had been turned off. While the priest was performing the anointing, suddenly, a bubbly, musical noise arose from the equipment. A friend who had been there at the end laughed and said "That's Tanya!" The medical technicians from the next room ran in and asked what had just happened, and were also quite surprised. Tanya had been an extremely competent pianist, and was a double-major at Austin College, in music and biology, was extremely spiritual, and that was probably her way of saying everything was ok. Also, after the funeral, just after her casket had been loaded into the hearse and the door was closed, a large orange butterfly floated from the far side of the hearse into our view. The little girls chased after it as Tanya's mom shouted "Look! It's a butterfly" Some of us smiled and saw that it was Tanya's spirit, once again, fluttering by. At Tom and Tanya's wedding, nine years ago, butterflies had been released. Tanya had bravely and uncomplainingly went through two full cycles of chemo, radiation, and bone marrow transplants before succumbing to "host versus graft disease". When she was first diagnosed and informed of the possibility of losing her hair because of chemotherapy treatments, she cut off her beautiful waist-length red hair and donated it to Locks of Love so a child also suffering from cancer might have a wig. Tanya was a dedicated wildlife biologist, who specialized in desert animals. She worked for the BLM in Barstow, California for 9 years and owned an environmental consulting firm for another 3 years. One of her pet projects was the endangered Desert Tortoise. On one of her assignments, she set out to prove she was worthy as a field biologist, tracking the tortoises on foot, walking as much as 40 miles per day in the high desert heat, with blisters covering the soles of her feet. Tanya was also a loving wife to my brother Tom and mother of two adorable little girls, Kynna, 7 and Kiley, 4. In lieu of flowers, the family has suggested donations to the following worthy causes:
The Desert Tortoise Council
P.O. Box 3273,
Beaumont, CA 92223

The Lymphoma Research Foundation of America New York Office 111 Broadway, 19th Floor New York, New York 10006 (212) 349-2910, (800) 235-6848 (212) 349-2886 Fax Los Angeles Office 8800 Venice Blvd, Suite 207 Los Angeles, California 90034 (310) 204-7040, (800) 500-9976 (310) 204-7043 Fax

The Tanya Marie Egan Education Trust c/o Mr. Charles, E. Heim, Jr. 2040 A1A, Suite 201 Indian Harbour FL 32937 (Mr. Heim is a lawyer who is administering the trust, the trust is for Tanya's two daughters.)

Posted by az/maroc at 12:01 AM MDT
Updated: Friday, 22 July 2005 4:23 PM MDT
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