On behalf of Don, Betty, and Rob Michalsky, and Scott Ellis, I welcome all of you, and sincerely thank all of you for coming here this morning to share in the celebration of the life of a very special and unique woman, a woman now transformed into a true heroine and a bright star. She is Tammy Lee Ellis.

On January 1, 1968 at around 12:30 am, the town of Nakusp welcomed and celebrated the birth of its first baby in that New Year.

But this was very different from the births of most babies, even from first babies born into the world on New Year's Day.

To begin with, both the father and the still pregnant mother were already patients in the Nakusp Hospital, which I am told was an old dilapidated building. They were both being treated in the same isolation room, for Hepatitis.

Secondly, because it was New Year's Eve, the doctor was out partying, so a nurse delivered the child. When the doctor finally showed up, it was obvious he had had too much to drink. Not wanting to don an isolation gown so he could enter the room and examine the new mother and baby, he decided to lean up against the door frame, just outside the room. But the building was so old, the door frame so crooked and the doctor so drunk, he lost his balance and fell over on the floor. Two nurses had to pick him up.

And thirdly, the baby was 2 months premature, a tiny wee girl weighing in at only 3lbs. 6 oz., a weight that quickly dropped to 2 lbs. 14 oz.

She was placed in an incubator where nurses cared for her for over a month. Because she had been born so prematurely, she hadn't yet developed the sucking reflex that a healthy, full term baby would automatically have. So the nurses had to feed this little baby from a spoon...she was fed pablum mixed with lots of milk.

Even in 1968, the tiny girl's chances of survival were slim. But under the loving and dedicated care of her parent's, Don & Betty, and probably the boisterous encouragement of her 2 year old brother Robbie, this little wee baby fought for her life, and was soon baptized Tammy Lee Michalsky.

And so, after an untimely and dangerous birth, and a miraculous new beginning, Tammy thrived and grew, and her life began to unfold.

As Tammy grew and matured into an extremely attractive little girl, and later on, an incredibly beautiful young woman with literally 'drop-dead-gorgeous-Hollywood-looks', she was also learning to live the natural inner beauty from her heart and her soul that she'd been born with. She began developing those personality qualities that made her into the Tammy that we all knew and loved, and cherished knowing.

It is hard to put into words everything that Tammy was, and it is virtually impossible to describe just what she meant to her family and to each of us here this morning.

Certainly, Tammy loved life...no it was more than a love. Tammy had a PASSION for life. She had what I like to call, VA-VOOM!

Her father told me how she would run out of the house the moment it began to rain, and saddle up her horse, Kona. Then Tammy and the horse would take off, galloping off into the rain. When they returned home, Tammy and Kona would be drenched. But Tammy would be exhilarated, her face enveloped with that big beautiful smile, that big beautiful smile that became her signature, and she'd come into the house breathless and excited exclaiming "I'm so happy! I just love riding in the rain!" Her eyes would be shining, her hair absolutely soaked, water streaming down her face. Then she would shed her soaking wet clothes and jump into the shower.

Apparently, on a scorching hot summer day, she loved nothing better than to sit in a creek.

Even Tammy's choices of education and training showed how diversified her interests and love of life really were. After finishing High School, she went down to the Coast and took training in Warehouse and Heavy Duty Parts. With that certificate under her arm, she was hired by John Deere, here in Cranbrook, where she worked for 3 years.

Then it was time to heave a whole different adventure in life. So Tammy packed herself off to Creston, and earned herself a certificate in Home Care. With this training, she worked in Kimberley and all over the East & West Kootenay’s in towns such as Creston, Castlegar, Trail and Nelson, caring for the sick, the handicapped, and the elderly in their homes. A story was told to me in which one of her patients was a very elderly and ornery man that nobody could manage and nobody wanted to take care of. But Tammy got on just fine with man, and with her ever smiling face and her own enthusiasm for life, she even managed to make the man laugh.

And Tammy was very good with people suffering from Alzheimer’s…she had the world of patience and compassion with these people.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of driving and car expenses in the Home Care job, so Tammy was forced to resign. But with her determination and her appetite and zest for new things, she earned herself a certificate in Construction Flagging. And it was in this field she had been working for the past three years.

Tammy was a phenomenal animal lover. I think her first love was her horse, Kona. It seemed to me they were almost ‘soul mates’. She told me herself how she used to talk to Kona about her pain and anxiety when her mother was sick, and she felt that Kona listened and understood, before rubbing his nose against Tammy’s cheek.

But Tammy’s love for animal’s extended beyond Kona.

I love the story her Dad told me, about Tammy being in her teens and finding a poor suffering cat out in the field. Apparently someone had shot it and left it to die. So Tammy bundled the cat up and took it home. Her Dad wanted to put the cat down, but Tammy wouldn’t let him. She insisted they take the animal to the vet. So they did. The vet managed to save the cat’s life, then gave Don the bill…It was $366, and remember that was back in the early 80’s! A lot of Money! For a cat they didn’t even know! But that was Tammy.

One more story I’d like to share is about Tammy driving along the highway and seeing the car up ahead of her hit a deer. Tammy watched the deer bounce up in the air and roll into the deep incline beside the road. When Tammy stopped her car, the driver of the first car, a woman, was crying and very upset about everything, and also because her car was leaking anti-freeze all over the road. Tammy comforted the unknown woman and told her not to worry, because she would drive her home, but first she wanted to check on the deer. Tammy climbed down into the ditch and discovered that the deer was almost dead. So she sat and petted the deer’s head and talked to it until it died. Then she drove the woman to wherever it was she lived.

Again, that was Tammy…if a person needed food, shelter, or comfort, all they had to do was tell Tammy, and she’d provide it. She was always caring about others and concerned for their welfare.

But Tammy was Don Michalsky’s daughter. And Tammy couldn’t be Don’s daughter and not be fiery and feisty!!!!

Twelve years ago, we lived across the road and down a fairly long driveway from the Michalsky house. One warm summer evening my younger daughter and I suddenly heard the most terrible row taking place out the back of the Michalsky house. Yes…it was between Don & Tammy! He was really reaming her out, really hollering at her for something she apparently deserved to be reamed out for. But did Tammy turn and run and hide somewhere, or come over to our place, or to any other neighbors place, because she was afraid? No Way! Tammy met her father head-on, shoulder-to-shoulder, eyeball-to-eyeball, nose-to-nose, verbally giving her Dad as good as she was getting. IT was a wild confrontation and I remember thinking, “Wow!!! Anybody who can stand up to Don Michalsky really has guts!” Again, that was Tammy. She was never afraid, always feisty, always the first one to defend and protect…whether it was for herself or someone else, or an animal.

Tammy also loved writing poetry. Ten years ago she wrote a lovely poem of praise and appreciation and gratitude to her mother, and during this last year she wrote a similar poem to her father. And as I bring this eulogy nearly to a close, I’m first going to read this poem Tammy wrote to Don. (Before I begin, I must first mention that “Pooker” was Don’s pet name for Tammy). The title is simply “Dad”.

To paraphrase a verse from the Bible, ‘The greatest LOVE a person has, is the willingness to sacrifice their own life, so that someone else’s life can be saved or protected’.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends and family…Tammy Ellis left this earth because she was trying to help a friend. Tammy died a true heroine, a true Star.

Thank-you Tammy, for everything you have taught us about living, about dying, and about the truest meaning of LOVE!

We love YOU, Tammy, and we’ll miss your smiling face and your laughter, but we’ll all be looking for that special bright, bright star in the sky, knowing you’re shining on us, and still smiling, and still passionately caring about the people you loved.

This eulogy was written and delivered by Elizabeth Ann Henningson At McPherson Funeral Home Cranbrook, BC, January 2, 2008