Tanya Kovilaritch Zuna, 39, passed away at St. Francis Hospital on September 21, 2012. Memorial services will be held on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 11:00 AM at Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, 4071 Macon Rd., Columbus with Rev. Stephen P. Winemiller officiating.
Tanya was born in Philadelphia, PA on October 15, 1972 to Ron and Carol Kovilaritch. She was a passionate professional who began her career at Paine & Associates in 1996, in the Orange County, CA office working on the healthcare team for the Toshiba Medical account. Tanya quickly advanced at the agency and found her niche on the B2B and consumer teams, working primarily on the Polaroid business.
In 2001, Tanya pioneered the next frontier for the California agency by moving cross-country with two other colleagues to help open the New York office. Aside from directing the Polaroid business and leading myriad new business efforts, Tanya's true legacy will be remembered by how passionately she perpetuated PainePR's Shared Values and unique, humanistic culture with all the new East Coast staff. People naturally gravitated toward Tanya, and she was deeply respected and loved by all because of her warm, magnetic personality.
In 2006, Tanya boldly embarked on the next chapter of her PR career at Cohn & Wolfe where she served as Senior Vice President of the consumer practice, overseeing the Pet Care division and leading the Hill's Science Diet account and other consumer national brands. In late 2008, Tanya evolved once more to the most rewarding chapter of her career as PR freelancer – and most importantly – a loving and devoted full-time mom.
Recently, Tanya re-engaged in independent PR consulting and pursuing philanthropic endeavors on the Boards of the Columbus Library Foundation and Columbus Symphony.
Survivors include her husband, Michael Zuna of Columbus; two daughters, Alexandra Zuna and Sophia Zuna; her sister, Natasha Kovilaritch of San Francisco, CA; her parents, Ron and Carol Kovilaritch of Sarasota, FL; her grandmother, Doris Lord of Somers Point, NJ; her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Bill and Lee Zuna of Tallahassee, FL; and her sister-in-law, Carolyn Zuna of Tallahassee, FL.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to PAWS Humane at www.pawshumane.org or P.O. Box 8964 Columbus, Georgia 31908.
Please visit www.shcolumbus.com to express condolences.
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