Tamara "Tammy" Van Dusen

Tammy Van Dusen passed peacefully from this world to the next on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 in Concord, NC.

Tammy was born in Escondido, CA on September 23, 1971 to Richard and Beverely Van Dusen, the last of the Van Dusen grandchildren.  She moved with her family to Alaska in 1973, starting her lifelong independent spirit.  She attended Anchorage Christian School from kindergarten through graduation.  When she started high school, she found a love in playing basketball, and was a tough post player and defender. She won several awards for her athletic accomplishments, which fueled her competitive spirit for her entire life.

In 1990, Tammy started her life long career as a travel agent. She worked with American Express Travel for nearly 25 years, beginning in Anchorage working on leisure travel.  In 1995, she moved to Seattle, Washington, where she worked on corporate travel for Microsoft Corporation, becoming a lead agent and team leader while serving Microsoft.  In 2002, she relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving Cargill Corporation.  In 2005, she once again relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina and served several agencies before joining World Wide Travel Associates in 2014 as a remote travel agent.  Tammy coordinated travel for many well known persons, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Bob Woodward, Jenna Bush, and Bill Walton.  She was the consummate professional, well loved by all her colleagues, and was wise enough to adapt and flex as the travel industry changed over the last 25 years.

Tammy loved scrapbooking, stamping and creating greeting cards for her family and friends.  She had a photographic memory, making her an AMAZING (and ruthless) gamer and card shark!  There are many fond memories of playing cards and board games with so many family and friends.  Another big “hobby” and passion was following professional and college sports.  She was a huge fan of the NFL (probably inherited from our mother), especially the 49ers and Panthers, and Saturdays in the fall were set aside for her beloved Oregon Ducks football.  She even canceled her first date with Tony because she had to watch her Ducks play on TV!

“Aunt Tammy” was beloved and gave so much to her nieces and nephew, Cori, Joel and Erica.  She was the favorite aunt who traveled to watch them many times over many years, and found great joy in caring for them!   That love was shared with countless other families, who equally received Tammy’s love and care.    In 2016, Tammy wanted to give something back from all the blessings she had been given, so she pursued and became an approved foster parent for Cabarrus County.  Her love for the five kids she had in her home, plus other loved kids was immense, and she became a huge advocate for this important service to children and the community.   Tammy was preceded in death by her loving mother, Beverely Ann (Barnes) Van Dusen, and was survived by her father Richard Van Dusen and brother Steven, sister in law Amy, nieces Cori and Erica, nephew Joel, her special friend Gary “Tony” Bigelow, plus countless other children of her friends who called her “Miss Tammy” or “TT”.

A private service will be held at Hartsell Funeral Home in Concord, NC on Saturday, January 14 at 11:00am. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making a donation to one of these organizations that assist families who are part of the foster care family.

This would honor Tammy’s love for children and supporting them through foster care. Children’s Home Society of North Carolina.  https://www.chsnc.org/donate/ Crossnore Community https://www.crossnore.org/donate-now/