Tanis Ann Strickland of Largo, FL passed away surrounded by family on Wednesday, February 26th, 2020. Tanis was born on August 14th, 1947 in Johnstown Town, Pennsylvania to loving parents Dwayne and Vivian Blank. She was the oldest of 5 girls, her 4 younger sisters are Rae, Betsy, Sondra, and Wendy.
Tanis graduated from Largo High School in 1966 where she met her husband, James “Jim” Brock Strickland. Tanis and Jim got married on November 6th, 1965 at a courthouse in Valdosta, Georgia. They had three beautiful children together- James Brock Jr., Kevin Michael, and Stephen Scott.
Tanis and Jim were amazed to watch their family grow and gain 8 grandchildren that Tanis just adored. Her grandchildren, Lauren, Nicholas, Sarah, Victoria, Alexander, Kayli, Dallas, and Jeremy were so lucky to have her as their “Grammy.” Tanis even spent months handwriting recipe books for her granddaughters to use as they grew older. The family jokes that she must’ve left out a few secret ingredients because they can never get the recipes to taste quite as good as hers did.
Tanis was a Nursing Assistant and then grew into her role as a Medical Assistant in her position at Suncoast Hospital. She was employed by them for over 20 years and was a fantastic employee to have around. On her days off, she enjoyed cooking, canoeing, camping, and fishing with her family. She got her adventurous spirit from her mom, Vivian, who was always up for a challenge.
Her favorite sports to watch were baseball and football. Her favorite family vacations were when she and Jim went to Las Vegas, Disney World, Universal Studios, and the countless amounts of local camping trips. Tanis loved her dogs through the years- the first dog they loved was Max, a German Shepherd that they had for 10 years. Following Max, they had Samantha, Hank, Prince, Ben, and Jerry.
When Tanis retired, she spent her days with her husband and family. Tanis passed away at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, FL as a result of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. She is predeceased by her parents, Dwayne and Vivian Blank, and her son- Kevin Michael Strickland and sister- Wendy. She is survived by her husband of 54 years- James, 2 sons- James (Debbie) Strickland and Stephen (Brenda) Strickland, 8 grandchildren- Nick, Lauren, Sarah, Victoria, Alex, Kayli, Dallas and Jeremy, and 3 sisters- Rae, Betsy, and Sondra.
A service will be held in her honor at Serenity Funeral Home- 13401 Indian Rocks Road, Largo, FL 33774 on Sunday, March 8th, 2020. The visitation will begin at 1:00pm with a memorial service at 2:00pm. A reception will follow from 3:00-5:00pm.
