About Tammy
A Life That Continues to Inspire
Born and raised in Summit, New Jersey, and a lifelong resident of the area, Tammy graduated from Summit High School with the Class of 1994 and earned a Bachelor’s degree in music/business from Grove City College, Grove City, PA (1998).
Her formative years were shaped by Indian Princesses through the Summit YMCA, where she was a proud member of the Mohawk tribe. As “Brown Squirrel” (her tribal name), she developed a lifelong connection with Frost Valley YMCA camp growing from camper, to counselor and long time volunteer, repairing trails and improving the environment.
She worked for Weichert, Realtors as a processing manager, Renaissance Church from its inception as its business manager, and lastly REI (Recreational Equipment Inc) initially in East Hanover and then remotely for Seattle, Washington headquarters as programs specialist for merchandising operations. As an avid outdoor enthusiast, she enjoyed camping, hiking, biking, kayaking and pursuing her love of nature. She loved sailing tall ships and was a volunteer on the Wavertree at South Street Seaport and the Brig Niagara in Erie PA. She also liked water in frozen form, skating the Assiniboine River in Winnipeg, Manitoba and reindeer sledding in Sweden above the Arctic circle. Additionally, she was a lifelong fan of the New York Rangers.
Not only drawn to nature, Tammy enjoyed a variety of cultural interactions. She was a high school exchange student in Toyama, Japan. As a teen she hosted foreign students through Academic Adventures in America and later worked as a tour guide for the organization. As an adult she participated in an immersive German language learning experience while spending time in Berlin. She continued her linguistic learning endeavors state side, racking up a DuoLingo German lesson streak of more than 1,200 consecutive days!
Tammy was a committed supporter of animal shelters and the caretaker of two cats and two special needs dogs, all of whom were rescue animals.
She was also an accomplished cellist who played with the New Jersey Youth Symphony as a student and the Livingston Symphony as an adult. One of her favorite performance memories came when she played Carnegie Hall in the spring of 1994.
