Obituary of Jeffery Duane Tanner

On February 23, 2019, Jeff, lost his battle to cancer and passed away at the age of 46.

Jeff was born on March 9, 1972, in Long Beach, CA, to Duane and Sally Tanner.

Growing up in southern California fueled his adventurous curiosity. He liked to be creative and take risks and would dive into anything that sparked his interest including drawing, photography, skateboarding, surfing and bike racing.

Jeff graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1990. He spent his late-teen and early-adult years studying drawing and painting, and blowing glass. He later returned to school and received his Bachelor of Communications from Chapman University.

Jeff married the love of his life, Cheryl, and, in 2013 they moved to north Idaho to pursue their dreams. Their plans were quickly derailed 6 months later when Jeff was diagnosed with late stage 3 head and neck cancer.

Throughout his battles, no matter how difficult they were, Jeff found an escape in nature that always filled him with peace and re-energized him to fight on. This led him back to his passion for photography. The mental images of places he’d been and places he wanted to go would carry him forward. Regaining the strength to spend time in nature capturing inspirational images became a driving force in his survival.

Jeff was a skilled outdoorsman who loved fly fishing, hiking, snowboarding, and exploring Idaho’s backcountry with his wife and their two Labrador retrievers. He lived for fresh powder days on the mountains and slinging his handmade flies on the Joe.

Jeff was preceded in death by his father, Duane. He is survived by: his wife, Cheryl, his mother Sally, his sister, Trisha and her two sons Tanner and Connor.

Heartfelt thanks to his nurse, Ronda Smith, and the wonderful staff at Auburn Crest Hospice.

Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to https://www.gofundme.com/RememberJeff