Sandra Elisabeth Van Fossen (Penny) was born July 1, 1944 in Charlottesville, Virginia to Hansel Young and Ruth Van Fossen, the sister to older brother Danny. She passed peacefully from this earth the afternoon of Monday, June 29, 2020 with her loving husband and life partner Steve Teshara by her side.
Danny had trouble pronouncing Sandra so she became Penny. The family moved west to Santa Barbara before Penny entered high school. Early on, and throughout her life, Penny exhibited intelligence, a compassion for others, great organizational skills, a flair for creativity, and, like her father, an aptitude for figuring out and fixing things.
In 1977, Penny moved to South Lake Tahoe with her young daughter Kelley. They enjoyed the change from the coast to the mountains. Penny often said she was sold on Tahoe when she saw deer on the runway as the plane she was in touched down on the runway at Lake Tahoe Airport. Together, Penny and Kelley experienced the full range of activities, challenges, and joys of living at the Lake. Penny especially loved bike riding and long walks.
Penny and Steve met while working at KTHO AM radio in the summer of 1982, Penny as the capable business manager and Steve as the dedicated news director. Station General Manager Ollie Hayden, as farseeing as he was, had no real idea what his hiring decisions had brought together. After several years collaborating in community service at KTHO, when Ollie stepped down, Penny left to work for another local radio station. Steve, still a West Shore resident, eventually returned north to work for the Tahoe North Visitors and Convention Bureau, and subsequently for the Tahoe Sierra Preservation Council.
Penny and Steve remained close friends, so stayed in touch even when not working together. In the early 1990s, they had a second opportunity to collaborate at what was then the South Tahoe Gaming Alliance, later the Lake Tahoe Gaming Alliance. Fortune played another hand when they resolved to get married, which they did on August 29, 1999, at the former Christiania Inn in South Lake Tahoe. Their commitment to each other was strong. They each sold their individual homes and together purchased a home in Round Hill, Zephyr Cove. When the Gaming Alliance office closed down in December of 2002, Penny established her own company, Teshara Management Services, and Steve was hired as Executive Director of the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association/North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce. Their relationship as life partners in marriage continued to blossom and grow.
In the spring of 2010, with Penny’s support, Steve stepped down from the Resort Association and established his own company, Sustainable Community Advocates, specializing in government affairs and initiatives designed to foster community sustainability. One of Steve’s early clients was the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce (Tahoe Chamber). In the summer of 2016, again with Penny’s full support, he accepted the position of interim chamber chief executive officer, then, in the spring of 2017, was named CEO.
For nine years, they also worked together as producers, along with long-time broadcaster Lloyd Higuera, of a local television program, The Regional Report, a feature of Douglas County Community Access Television. Penny continued in the field of radio broadcasting, working at stations based in Carson City.
In 2018, in recognition of their many years of service, Penny and Steve were inducted together into the Nevada Broadcasters Hall of Fame, one of the few couples to achieve that honor.
Penny and Steve shared a total of 38 years as the best of friends and nearly 21 years as partners in marriage. Penny passed two days shy of her birthday and two months before what would have been their 21st wedding anniversary.
In addition to Steve, Penny is survived by her daughter Kelley Hopper and husband Rick Hopper of Reno. Her interment is at Happy Homestead Cemetery in South Lake Tahoe near the final resting place of her mother Ruth. She is remembered fondly by many throughout the Tahoe region for her smile, her caring and unique contributions, and for the love story of her partnership with Steve in service to the community.
Anyone wishing to make contributions in Penny’s memory can do so with a donation to the Lake Tahoe Community College Foundation, helping to support the educational advancement of many working hard to become the leaders of today and the future.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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