Tamara S. Ligtenberg

Tamara S. Ligtenberg

April 12, 1961-March 13, 2023

Passed into eternal rest on Monday, March 13, 2023, surrounded by her loving family.  Survived by her partner David Howe, parents Eugene & Joanne Ligtenberg, sister Julie (Jeff) Gerstenberger, nephew Alex (Anna Cantrell) Gerstenberger, many aunts, uncles and cousins, and her dog Bear.

Tamara was born in Vermillion, SD and grew up in Rochester.  She attended Penn State University and graduated from SUNY Brockport before settling in Rochester to work in the travel industry.  Tamara loved to travel and worked as a travel agent for many years before becoming a reports specialist at Van Zile Travel.  She particularly enjoyed travel in the American Southwest and England, but felt the deepest ties to her birth state of South Dakota where she had so many summer farm adventures with family.

Tamara was known for her many creative talents, sharing her love through gifts of cross stitch, crochet, and delicious cookies.  She particularly loved Christmas, turning her love of baking into a Christmas cookie business, and displaying multiple Christmas trees year-round decorated with ornaments collected on her travels.  Tamara always made Christmas special with her carefully chosen and creatively wrapped gifts, which might involve puzzles to identify the recipient or gifts inside other gifts.  She is deeply missed.

Calling hours are Thursday, March 30th from 5-7 PM at Vay-Schleich & Meeson, 1075 Long Pond Rd.  A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, April 1st at 1PM at Messiah Lutheran Church, 4301 Mt. Read Blvd, followed by a reception at the church. The service will also be streamed online us02web.zoom.us/j/573579627.  In lieu of flowers, donations in Tamara’s memory may be made to the Messiah Lutheran Church Food Pantry www.MessiahLutheranChurch.net/content/food-pantry or to the Humane Society at Lollypop Farm www.lollypop.org.