Going Home

Our sweet, funny, smart, loyal and loving Wanda left us on Friday, April 10. All Thursday she was itching to get home, restless in the hospital bed. Once we started to make the move, and we assured her that she'd make it home, she seemed for the first time to truly rest. 

Once home, she acknowledged being here and waited patiently until her body was finally ready to let her go. We are so grateful to have gotten her home and to have had that special time with her in the house my parents built 35 years ago. 

Thank you for loving and supporting our mother and wife through the past four years. This is one of our favorite pictures of her, taken when she was very much alive and very happy to be outside hiking with her friends.  Below that is the obituary that will run in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press tomorrow. 

Wanda Leigh Taintor, 65, of Signal Mountain, passed away on Friday, April 10, at home surrounded by family. A longtime Signal Mountain resident, former Bright School teacher and lover of all things fun, Wanda leaves behind a loving husband, Pat, and three children, Kit, Callie and Case, and their spouses, Demian, Mike and Sophie, and two grandchildren, Davis and Patrick, along with another grandbaby due in June. Wanda joins her parents, Curtis and Louise Spicer, and her brother Eddy, as well as friends who went before her, in heaven, where she is surely already the life of the after party. To all who knew her, Wanda will be remembered as a “wandrful” and thoughtful person, who always took time to cultivate friendships and was generous and loyal to family and friends. Born in Virginia, Wanda attended Longwood College, graduating in 1971, before marrying Pat and moving to Tennessee, first to Nashville and then to Signal Mountain in 1974. In 2007, Wanda received her Masters in Education from the University of Connecticut. (At the time, one of her friends remarked, “why do you need a Masters? For your obituary?” Wanda got a kick out of that and would laugh to see it mentioned here.) No one loved living more than Wanda. She was the friend, wife and mother you’d call to laugh with, cry with, travel with, drink wine with, sew with, and smile with. If we all lived like Wanda, we would live fiercely, travel widely, laugh often, smile broadly, give hugs freely, and love friends like family. Wanda will be remembered at St Timothy’s on Signal Mountain on Monday, April 13 with a visitation at 3 pm, service at 4 pm, and a celebration of life to follow. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her name to St Timothy’s, a church community where she worshipped and raised her family. The family would also like to take this opportunity to thank her many friends who have helped through this journey; we are truly, truly grateful.