|
| |
Funeral services for Tanya Marie Kennedy will be at 2:00 pm, March 16, 2022, in the First United Methodist Church of Fairview, Oklahoma. There will be a van available from the parking lot west of Brums, departing at 12:45pm for transportation from Enid to Fairview.
Tanya Marie Davis was born on Dec 5, 1958 to McWilliam and Kay Davis in Washington DC. She passed away on March 12, 2022, in Oklahoma City. She spent the first two years of her life on the east coast before the family moved to Fairview, Oklahoma in 1961. She spent her early years playing on the farm. She went on to attend Progressive School and then Fairview High School where she was a formidable basketball player, played the clarinet in the band, and had a wide circle of friends.
Her personal journey into recovery was the catalyst that led her to spend the rest of her life helping others and inspired her to pursue counseling and therapy as a career. She attended Oklahoma City University, followed by NWOSU where she received a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's degree in Behavioral Sciences. Throughout her career Tanya worked at inpatient as well as outpatient facilities and she was the recipient of an International Counseling Fellowship in 1993 and worked at a street clinic in Nottingham, England for six months.
In the early 2000's, Tanya founded Substance Abuse Program Professionals (SAPP), a non-profit that provides counseling, DUI school and, for a time, a safe house. At various times, she filled in as an interim director at Northwest Treatment Center for several months to keep that residential treatment center from closing. She did the same with the YWCA. Tanya would serve in various positions when they needed her expertise and leadership. She worked in the halfway house at the YWCA and in various other positions. She also served as Clinical Director at ATS Counseling which resulted in many wonderful friendships. In 2019, Tanya received the Jack Way Oklahoma Drug/Alcohol Professional Counselor of the Year Award for long term support and commitment to the drug and alcohol counseling profession.
The final step in her career journey was as Program Director at Catalyst Behavioral Services in Enid, where the staff became another family. Tanya married John Kennedy in 1980 and the couple was blessed with a son, Elijah Baird Kennedy on April 1, 1982 who became the focal point of her life.
In 1999, Tanya married Melvin Robinett and they were happily at each other's' side until Melvin's passing in 2009. Their union blessed Tanya with granddaughters to love on and she doted on them endlessly and viewed them as her own.
Tanya inspired the loyalty of wonderful people everywhere she went in life and was blessed to be surrounded by many devoted friends, among them, Mel Bloss, with whom she enjoyed many adventures, Mel passed in 2011 and Tanya handled this great loss with the same grace she exhibited after the loss of her dear Melvin. Her lifelong friend Barbara Adkins not only served as a huge stabilizing force and financial mentor, but also became her caretaker during her lengthy stay in the hospital.
Tanya's greatest delight in life was being Nana to Eli and Melissa's sons, Titan and Tyson. She enthusiastically spent her weekends watching them excel at baseball, football, and basketball, just the same as she did when Eli was playing.
Her many plans were cut short by an aggressive autoimmune disease, and she passed away after a lengthy hospital stay, during which she was surrounded by family, friends, and many caring nurses and doctors.
Tanya is survived by her son, Elijah Kennedy and Melissa, her bonus daughter Kelsey Kennedy Johnson and husband Chad, her grandsons Titan and Tyson, Melvin's granddaughters, Laci, Brooklyn, Kodee, Xoe, and Journe. Also lingering are her sister Assunta and husband Augie, brother Jess and wife Calleen, nieces Nicole, Happi and husband Tony, and Becca and husband Andrew.
She was preceded in death by her husband Melvin Robinett, her parents, McWilliam and Kay Davis, her sister Sylvia, and many treasured aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.
This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2024 Oklahoma CemeteriesThe information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.