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Tanya Heidi Wray Mar 15, 2009 12:00 AM A A Tanya Heidi Wray Tanya Heidi Wray passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on January 31, 2009. "I would like a memorial to be held in Lithia Park. I would like as many flowers as possible and good food for all to enjoy. I would like my friends and family to be reminded to think of me when enjoying a sunny day or smelling a wonderful flower"-Tanya's will. Tanya was born in Medford, Ore., on March 19, 1973, to parents, Betty Ann Wingler and Edward Wesley Brain, and she grew up in the Rogue Valley. Along with her sister Tasha, she played little league ball, skied on Mt. A and spent time on "Uncle Art's" ocean, Upper Klamath Lake. She moved to Bend and graduated from Bend High School in 1991. Tanya attended Central Oregon Community College and transferred to Southern Oregon University in Ashland. She was an adventurer not afraid to take risks and explore new places. An anthropologist who graduated with honors from SOU, Tanya spent her junior year in Szeged, Hungary entrenching herself in Eastern European culture. Back at SOU for senior year practicum field work, Tanya and fellow student Matt Goodwin documented an area rich in Native American vision quest sites on Bryant Mountain, southeast of Klamath Falls. She later petitioned for protected status of this cultural landscape. After graduation, Tanya worked as a grant writer for Access Food Shares in Medford. Spearheading a capital campaign for a new community kitchen, she submitted a grant to the Ford Foundation which brought Southern Oregon a new food kitchen and brought Tanya recognition for her grant writing with a national award from the Grantsmanship Center. Tanya next was employed with the City of Medford where she continued as a grant writer and administered a federal Community Development Block Grant. Tanya met Brian Wray, fell in love and married him on July 19, 1998. Brian's passion is bicycling and restoring old bikes. He prepared a classic for Tanya and the couple enjoyed the sport "in style". Tanya and Brian loved gardening, visiting the coast, and hiking up Grizzly Peak. Tanya's was diagnosed with leukemia in 2000. After a bone marrow transplant, she spent year after year fighting Graft Versus Host Disease. She wrote, "My life goal is to be a good person, to be an active community member and leader. I started to pave that path when I hit a very large speed bump (cancer)." Tanya became a healthcare reform activist, and in 2005 she traveled to Salem with her father to lobby for healthcare justice. Tanya chaired Oregon Action's healthcare reform committee in Southern Oregon. She also counseled cancer survivors giving encouragement to others who faced similar challenges. Tanya lived a lot! Tanya is survived by her husband, Brian; stepsons, Riley and Trevor; parents, Wes and Betty; stepmother, Brenda; and her sister, Tasha. She was preceded in death by baby brother, Dustin Wesley Brain. A community memorial will be held March 22 at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Hall in Lithia Park. A potluck will follow with music by "Broadway Phil & the Shouters" Donations in memory of Tanya Wray may be made to the following: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org; Lance Armstrong Foundation, http://www.livestrong.org; the SAMFund, http://www.thesamfund.org Tanya Heidi Wray