Tanya Marie Eckroat

Tanya Marie Eckroat, nee Dallabetta, a longtime resident of Loveland, Colorado, died of pancreatic cancer after a short illness in California on January 8, 2024. Tanya was born in Loveland on October 31, 1957, the third of seven children, to Julio and Greta Dallabetta. Graduating from Loveland High School in 1976, she went on to obtain her Airplane and Powerplant Certificate from Colorado Aerotech School in 1977, one of only three females in a class of 360 students, and subsequently got her private pilot’s license and instrument rating. Feisty, fearless and a general badass, she taught her siblings how to climb onto the roof of their house and jump onto the trampoline in the backyard – much to the horror of their parents.

Tanya married Ronald Eckroat on August 21, 1982 in Loveland and moved to Texas where their son, Adam Dean, was born in 1986. In Texas, she completed nursing school to become a Registered Nurse in 1990. The family returned to Loveland in 1991. She loved touring with Ron on their twin Harley-Davidson motorcycles and was a member of HOG (Harley Owners Group) 411, the Thunder Mountain Chapter in Loveland, Colorado, riding club. The couple helped organize and assist in numerous charity rides. Ron died in 2010. In 2012, she began providing in-home care for her aged mother while continuing to work as a nurse part-time. After her mother’s death in 2017 she moved to Baja, California to collaborate with her sister in a dog rescue charity, “Tragic-to-Magic”, and to teach nursing in San Diego. She worked tirelessly to nurse sick street puppies back to health, bathe them, clean up after them, train them and participate in weekly adoption events in San Diego. She loved the dogs and they loved her. To learn more about the work she enjoyed you can visit http://tragictomagic.org.

Tanya is survived by her son, Adam Eckroat, Canon City, CO; six siblings: Gina Dallabetta, Chevy Chase, MD; Dana Dallabetta, Baja, California; Paula Dallabetta, Louisville, CO; Kyle Dallabetta, Loveland, CO; Michael Dallabetta, Spokane, WA; and Tara Dallabetta, Fort Collins, CO; four step-children: Kevin Eckroat, Janet Harris, Rebecca Sheehan, and Wendy Eckroat. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ronald Eckroat, and her parents, Julio and Greta Dallabetta. She will be buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, next to her husband.