"I am so very sorry for your loss. I worked with Tanya at Protocol. She and I were good friends there and made some great memories together. She was beautiful, inside and out. Please know that I am sending all of my love and prayers to all of her family. She was a gem! This world won't be the same without her."
In loving memory of
Tanya Chidsey
June 12, 1969 - May 15, 2019
Tanya Jo Clow Chidsey died unexpectedly on May 15, 2019 at home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She was born June 12, 1969 at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Tanya married John Chidsey in August, 2017; and they lived in Fort Lauderdale. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor's degree in 1992 and from Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids in 1987. Along with her brother Nathan, she attended the first Montessori Preschool in Cedar Rapids. During high school and at at Tanya's urging, her family had a wonderful year hosting Salome Menendez Diez, a foreign exchange student from Spain; and due to their friendship, Tanya in turn spent the next summer with Salome's family in Spain.
Prior to her marriage with John, Tanya lived in Fort Lauderdale for several years. She travelled extensively during her years as Vice President of Client Solutions at the Expert Global Solutions (EGS) company. She extended that sense of adventure that began soon following college spending several months in Kenya; and in subsequent years, she was able to use vacation time in Israel & Jordan, birdwatching in Costa Rica, skiing in Argentina, hiking in Iceland, and horseback riding on a mountain in Ecuador where she unfortunately broke her back! Nevertheless and irrespective of periodic setbacks, Tanya remained able to enjoy nature and the outdoors throughout her life including water and snow skiing, hiking, butterflies and birdwatching. She so enjoyed the time she and John spent together camping, boating, fishing, skiing and being with friends.
Tanya loved her roles as aunt to Sage Clow and Addison Jones and as stepmother to Dani, Stephi, and Grace Fleckenstein. She remained close to them all until the end of her life. Tanya nurtured an appreciation of nature in many ways in each of them through her enthusiasm and active support of fostering orphan animals through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Organization. She always had pet dogs, kitties, and a bird if possible in her home. Thankfully, John loved them too!
Tanya loved their ski home in Angel Fire New Mexico where she developed lifelong relationships. enjoyed snow skiing hiking, whitewater rafting and especially the wildlife, deer, elk, bears, and the wild birds. She was looking forward to the building of their new ski house house right next door. Tanya loved camping in their camper, riding their Harley, boating and Kayaking which they never did without each other. Tanya was so excited to be part of "Pooches and Kitties of Hollywood" an organization created by Johns animal control officers in Hollywood Florida , endorsed by the City Commission, to build and run a No Kill animal rescue shelter for abused, abandoned , and injured animals . Tanya's love for animals was obvious with three Australian Shepherds, two siamese cats, one calico and one mane coon, and tweety
Tanya leaves behind husband John Chidsey, parents Donald and Toni Clow, brother Nathan and spouse Melissa Clow, step nephew Addison Jones and niece Sage Clow, stepson Jeffrey Chidsey and step granddaughter Marlee Chidsey, and many dear family and friends.
Tanya was preceded in death by her grandparents John and Hyla Clow and Merle and Dorothea Wirkler.
If people wish, donations might be made in memory of Tanya Chidsey to a charity of your choice or to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust: web server 2@sheldrickwildlifetrust.org; or Pooches and Kitties in Hollywood https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3W6F5B6H5D7F2&source=url
Tributes
"I met Tanya way back in the day at APAC in Cedar Rapids. I remember she taught me to take personal health days for myself. I never knew what they were until she educated me on how crucial it is to take care of yourself. We were always connected through mutual friends. I have fond memories of random walks through the city of Chicago when we were living downtown. Breakfast with friends in the neighborhood were a special treat. Tanya's smile could light up a room and a group. Be in peace!"
"I am so very sorry for the loss of her , she will be missed. "
"John/ and the entire Clow family- My deepest condolences to Each and everyone of you. Tanya is an old friend Of mine from Cedar Rapids. We worked together For many years at a computer software company. She was a bright and shining star and everyone that she worked with just adored her. Please accept my deepest regards and many thoughts and prayers. Eric Heinemann "
"I?ve been trying to find the words to describe what Tanya meant to me, and I can?t seem to find any that truly depict how much she impacted my life. Tanya came into my life when I was four years old. She saw me ride my first bike, she was there for my first snorkel and scuba dive trip. She sent me to summer camps and took me on adventures to key west, Tampa, Jupiter, and the Great Smokie mountains. She?d send me flowers every year for my birthday, and she?d hide sunscreen in my lotion bottles. She held me when I cried, and she gave me pep talks when I was scared or weak. She was incredible in every way. She was smart, strong, brilliant and beautiful. She nurtured and cared for everyone and everything she came in contact with, and she always made sure us girls knew we were loved and cared for. She took us in like her own, and she filled voids we didn?t know we had. Tanya was a mother, and a friend, and an amazing woman. I feel so grateful that I was able to see her twice in the past six months and get to hear her famous laugh a few last times. My last memory I have with her is all of us (Tanya and her daughters) dancing and laughing at my wedding in September. We love you, and we miss you, and we are so deeply sorry we didn?t have more time with you. There?s so much I want to say, but I struggle to articulate how much Tanya meant to me. I am forever sorry that this world didn?t get to experience more of her love. She was the good everyone needed, and I will spend the rest of forever missing her and trying to carry on her legacy. "
"I knew Tanya in high school. She became a much better friend after I met Monica who would become my wife. Mon and Clowie knew each other from waterskiing days and led similar lives. They both lived abroad, volunteering in service of people and nature. They both loved butterflies. Tanya and my sister Terri visited us in Central America where we got scuba certified. I was always impressed that she got sick through the regulator yet finished the dive. She was an unflappable traveler. We did a New Years ski trip to Jackson (with Nate). It must have been the reduced oxygen in that altitude that made us run out of the hot tub and dive into the snow. What fun times. I still owe Tanya. Monica and she had an arrangement where they sent each other flowers on birthdays, which got me off the hook. When Monica fell ill, Tanya always made herself available to support her. My family loved her and will miss her very much. Steve Monk"
"The world is a little less special without Tanya. Her and I shared a banter for many years about our love for all things Iowa Hawkeyes. I feel so very fortunate that I was able to meet Tanya. So impressive on so many levels. Such a beautiful zest for travel and life in general. The Hawkeye Nation will miss you so very much Tanya. You were one of its most beautiful members."
"I will always appreciate the thoughtfulness that I felt whenever I talked to Tanya. She had a way of making you feel like you were the most important person in the room, and it was genuine. She wanted to know what you were thinking. She never shied from giving me crap! In fact, she excelled at that. A trait that I loved, and respected, and returned. Tanya, Zach, and I had so many great memories skiing trios together! She always said that we owed her a beer every time we ?dropped? her. I think I owed her a couple cases. In the last conversation I had with her, she reminded me that I owed her a six pack. I would give anything if I could share that six pack with her right now. Love you T!"
"Tanya is a beautiful soul and that will never change. I remember meeting her through Bridgette King on an outing in Fort Lauderdale. I recall thinking how sweet, charming, and pretty she was. She was always working too. Even when we were all out together, she had her work phone and would check in with it periodically. She knew I loved nature and she made it a habit of commenting or following up on posts I made on Facebook or Instagram. In 2016 when I'd already been living in California for a few years, a hurricane was headed for Jamaica, my place of birth. She reached out to ask how my family was which was a part of her thoughtful nature. She cared for others. When I lived in Fort Lauderdale she came with Marsha M. and me to a polo match and we had a ball. I brought a hamper full of delights for us to nosh on and that was a good day. Only a couple of days ago, I thought of her when I looked at a scratch on my bumper that I got one night when backing out from her driveway accidentally into a car parked on the street across from her house. I hope, Tanya, that you have found your peace. I miss you and wish you were here. You were such a beautiful human, inside and out. Thank you for your friendship and your lovely nature. Love, Lisagaye"
"I have so many wonderful memories of Tanya, I don?t even know where to begin. For many years, we were as close as any friends or sisters could be. We traveled the world together ? Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Morocco, Turkey, Argentina, Ecuador, Israel, Las Vegas, New York, and more, and we talked about so going to so many other places. She shared her dreams, her aspirations, her fears with me. She helped me dye my hair with drugstore dye when I couldn?t afford the salon (that was a disaster we both laughed about for years), she helped me pack when I was moving (well, she liked to say she just sat there and kept me company while I did all the work, but she helped more than she knew). She sat on my bed and made me laugh at some of the lowest points of my life. She was by far the funniest girl I?d EVER met and one of the funniest people I?ve ever had the pleasure to be around. She was one of the wittiest and quickest persons I?ve even known ? I would always think of a great comeback line hours later or the next day, but Tanya could whip it out of her mouth as fast as lightening and have us all in stitches within seconds. Everybody who ever met her fell in love with her immediately, and I still have people ask me many years later after meeting her, sometimes even only once, ?how is your beautiful friend Tanya?? She was beautiful inside and out, and she brought so much pleasure to my life and to so many others. One of the funniest memories I have with her is when I was home visiting my father for a few weeks, and he came home from the grocery store, placed a can of SPAM on the counter and was very apologetic that he couldn?t find anything called ?adzuki beans.? He told me he looked ALL over the store for them, even enlisting the help of the manager but was very sorry that neither of them could find them or even knew what they were. When I asked him why he was even looking for them in the first place, he showed me his shopping list and loudly proclaimed ?BECAUSE YOU PUT THEM ON THE LIST!!!!? I asked to see the list and instantly recognized the handwriting, started laughing and said ?um, dad, TANYA must have written this on the list,? and he shouted back ?WHY DID TANYA WANT SPAM AND ADZUKI BEANS???? After I told him it must have been a joke, he got REALLY mad and yelled ?YOU MEAN I BOUGHT SPAM FOR NO REASON??!!!? And while my father didn?t think it was funny at all, when I called Tanya to tell her, she had even forgotten she had done that, and we both starting laughing so hard we had tears rolling down our faces. For years later, even recently, we would make inside ?adzuki bean? jokes. We would be out at bars, and if the person next to us (even complete strangers) had their phone on the counter, when they weren?t looking Tanya would pick it up and take funny photos ? and we would laugh about what they would think later when going through their pictures. On our trip to NYC after leaving a club, the 2am line at the food truck was too long, so Tanya decided to take it upon herself and started to help the guy cook the meat! He didn?t know what to make of her (as many people often didn?t), but we all just sat back and watched ?The Tanya Show? as she had us all laughing and smiling as she worked the food truck (accent and all, lol). Skiing in Argentina, we didn?t want to use the safety bar on the chair lift, but it was mandatory. When they would yell at us from below to put it down, she would purposefully look back at them confused and yell ?we don?t speak Spanish??? and giggle to ourselves like little girls at defying authority. Even on the mountainside of Ecuador, when she had fallen off the horse and broken her back (we didn?t know at the time it was broken), the two of us were stranded on a remote cliff-side path with nothing around at something like 11,000? altitude waiting for help with no phone, watching a storm roll in ? it was scary, she was hunched over in pain and couldn?t stand up, and even then she was cracking jokes about the animals and creatures up there watching and trying to figure us out. Even in our darkest moments, we could make each other laugh and smile. My only regret is that I didn?t know about the most recent pain she was in. As the tears stream down my face, going through pictures of our lives together and reliving these wonderful memories, I will miss you for the rest of my life, beautiful Tanya, but may you rest in peace and happiness until we meet again?you will stay in my heart and in my memories forever. "
"My deepest condolences to John and family! No words will take away the hurt! Please take comfort in all those happy memories! "