To Our Dear Family and Friends,

 Tedra, our beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend passed away at age 65 in her sleep in the early morning hours of June 13, 2012. Her husband Bo and her daughters, Amy and Samantha were present. While deeply, deeply saddened to lose her, we also feel a great sense of relief for Tedra finally being free from the body that caused her so much pain and suffering over her lifetime due to various illnesses and complications caused by a genetic blood clotting disorder, recently linked to a Methylenetetrahydrofolate (MTHFR) Reductase C667T gene mutation, which she, in her “jail talk,” affectionately referred to as the “Motherf _ _ _er Gene!”  

 Only the space of the vast cosmos can hold the enormity of her life and the multitude of lives that she touched with her generous and fierce grace. The impact of her life will continue to unfold for each of us in our own special way. Per her wishes she will be cremated and no specific memorial service or funeral will be held. As is fitting for the woman who traveled to every continent on the planet, lived in numerous places and developed and nourished an amazing worldwide network of friends, her memorial will be multi-locational. This means that in honor of her, we ask you to pause in your own way to reflect on who she is to you and how that will continue to live on within you and your life. Each of these paused moments, these individual memorials taking place around the globe, will be a network of light and love reaching out and reflecting back to her just how much of an impact she had and how much she is still and forever deeply, deeply loved.

 Tedra requested that if you feel you would like to make a contribution toward the memory of her life then please consider making a charitable donation in her name to either Pathways Hospice in Ft. Collins, Colorado or to the Larimer Humane Society in Ft. Collins, CO. (The address information and direct email donation links are at the end of this letter).

Tedra loved animals and rescued many from Humane Societies over the course of her life. In her final days she was the recipient of hospice care from Pathways, which was fitting for her because of her history with the organization. She co-founded hospice organizations in South Dakota and Wyoming and was a volunteer with various hospice groups for nearly 40 years and was passionate about working closely with the sick and dying because she understood the kind of terror and pain it brought to one’s life. Her most salient times were when she could provide the space of love and support to people in this way and this culminated in her recent three month volunteer mission to South Africa in the spring of 2010. Her work there with children dying of HIV/AIDS and people suffering from tuberculosis and other terminal or life threatening illnesses was, for her, one of the greatest experiences of her life. And that’s saying something considering her illustrious career as a mother, spouse, friend, and as a professional in the field of criminal justice.

 After earning her B.A. in psychology and pre-medicine she forged her way through a traditionally “male” dominated career and surprised many (and even herself) with her intelligence, compassion and successful progression which started with working as a parole officer before moving up to director positions such as, Director of Youth and Family Services for juvenile delinquents and Director of Educational Services and Job Development at a half-way house for recently released adult prisoners. As one former boss recently reminisced, Tedra is “sassy, sharp, educated, diligent and competent,” qualities which enabled her to pursue graduate studies in criminal justice and eventually moved her on to the executive positions of Warden of a 2,000 co-ed inmate jail and statewide Chief of Probation Services, as well as a Criminal Justice Consultant and Trainer for national organizations which she continued to do until recently.

 Beyond the public sector, Tedra also had a wide range of experiences in the private sector such as working for Wells Fargo Bank, being a Licensed Insurance Broker for Texas and Wyoming, being owner of a property management firm, as well as having a private counseling practice specializing in crisis therapy & post-traumatic stress and hypnotherapy. Of course it didn’t stop there, she also got her pilot’s license and flew her first solo plane in 1977, she raced sports cars which gave her the opportunity to meet Paul Newman, she was a member of MENSA, and she had a life-long interest in aliens and was a member of MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) doing research and investigation.

 Needless to say her life was anything but ordinary and anyone that knew her knew that she didn’t take life for granted and her motto of “Do It Now!” led her to continually push the boundaries of convention and face fear directly by always taking the risk to be alive and live a full life. She did this and taught us all (sometimes with a big kick in the ass) to do it too. And in facing every difficulty, malady, or challenge she often repeated the words of her father, “this too shall pass.”

 Who else but Tedra would get in her car, just days ahead of the moving truck, and leave the mid-west for the east coast with no job, no house, no specific destination because she wanted to be near the ocean and have a change? Who else but Tedra would commute at least 4 hours (one way) a day from Connecticut to New Jersey for a job because she was dedicated to her professional career and didn’t want to make her younger daughter move again in the middle of the school year? Who else but Tedra kept the U.S. Postal Service in business with her phenomenal ability to keep in contact with every person she ever met by sending love gifts and cards for every occasion and birthday, or postcards from every place she traveled? Who else but Tedra, who didn’t “believe in linear time,” would have nearly 50 clocks ticking and chiming away in her house? Who else but Tedra zapped out every electronic device she came into contact with? Who else but Tedra could take down a room with her beauty and class while carrying so much physical pain and illness? Who else but Tedra would rip out her IVs, leave the hospital against medical advice and come home and mow the lawn? Who else but Tedra would flash her badge or use her professional contacts to monitor or screen her daughters’ friends and boyfriends? Who else but Tedra collected hundreds of canes long before she ever needed to use one to maintain her balance? Who else but Tedra kept the spirits and bellies of whole neighborhoods of people fed with soup or graciously hosted 30+ person sit-down dinners (with food enough for 60) sending every guest home with doggie bags and gifts? You’d best be careful entering her house and showing a like for or interest in something because you’d end up taking it home with you.

 There is no way to truly capture her—to capture the essence that is Tedra. She is a force that moves you to find places in yourself that you never knew you had—places of love, of rage and anger, or hidden secrets, and untold truths. She is there at the ready to shine a mirror to help us see more clearly (this is why she filled her house with mirrors!). She is a dreamer, seeker, truth teller and she fought to be a full human being every moment of her life.

 In closing we’d like to share a quote that was sent to Tedra and Bo by the minister that married them because she felt it so clearly reflected the human being that is Tedra:

To Be a Full Human Being

By Morris West

 It costs so much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment or the courage to pay the price…One has to abandon altogether the search for security, and reach out to the risk of living with both arms. One has to embrace the world like a lover. One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying.

 Source: The Shoes of the Fisherman

 Dearest Tedra, we will miss you terribly and we love you more than the magnitude of earthquakes and the tidal pull of the moon.

 Thank you all for being a part of her dynamic, generous, wild, crazy-loving life.

 With much sadness, love and gratitude,

 Bo, Amy & Samantha

 
Memorial Information:

Here are optional ways to honor Tedra if you so choose.

Charitable Donations

  Pathways Hospice, Community Care for Northern Colorado

            Memorial Donations

            305 Carpenter Road

            Ft. Collins, CO 80525

            Phone: 970-663-3500

http://www.pathways-care.org/Donations/Memorial-Donations-and-Gifts.php 

 Larimer Humane Society

5137 S. College Ave.

Ft. Collins, CO 80525

Phone: 970-530-2947

http://www.larimerhumane.org/donate/memorialstributes

 Please write “Tedra L. Plane” in the memo line of your check or on a separate piece of paper if mailing in your donation. If you make a donation online, please include her name in the space provided.