Sharyn Tanner dies at Vancouver home at 71

Sharyn Tanner, a longtime fixture in the community, died at her home on Sunday after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

She was 71.

“She is the epitome of what a community would like to see in all its citizens,” said Joe Tanner, her husband. “She worked for the betterment of the community. It was a central point in her life, other than her family.”

Joe Tanner served in the Washington state Legislature in the 1980s and championed the Washington State University Vancouver branch campus project. He couldn’t have done it, he said, without his wife’s support and counsel. Sharyn Tanner worked as a microbiologist at a variety of medical institutions, including Massachusetts General Hospital.

She volunteered on a wide-range of boards from those that advocated for children to others that strived to improve animal welfare.

“Everybody will say this: She’s the most wonderful, giving person that you’ll find,” Joe Tanner said.

And although the Tanners are Democrats, that never stopped Sharyn Tanner from making several close friends across the aisle.

“All the local political establishment is familiar with Sharyn,” Joe Tanner said.

Sharyn Tanner was born in the small mining town of Morenci, Ariz.

She loved Clark County, her home for the past 37 years.

“She never wanted to leave and now she won’t leave,” Joe Tanner said.

Her husband said she would be missed terribly by family and friends. She is survived by her husband, two children and three grandchildren.

A service will be held at Evergreen Memorial Gardens at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Evergreen Memorial Gardens in Vancouver.