Tanya Weaver

Tanya Weaver passed away on Sept. 22, 2016, from ovarian cancer. Tanya was a kind, compassionate friend and consistent, considerate and determined in her professional life. She is survived by her husband, Thomas Carlson, and her yellow lab, Tessie, of Anchorage, Alaska; siblings, Reatha (Charlie) Whiting of Salt Lake City, Utah, Michelle (Kent) Jordan of Hockessin, Del., Alyson (Keith) Maw of South Weber, Utah, Shannon (Don) Watenpaugh of Aledo, Texas, and Courtland Weaver (Haley) of Fairbanks, Alaska; many loving nieces and nephews; and many grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

Tanya was born on Sept. 26, 1962, the sixth and last child of Don Weaver and Colleen Roundy. She grew up in Kaysville, Utah, graduating from Davis High School in 1980. She attended a year at Brigham Young University Hawaii, a semester abroad in Salamanca, Spain, and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Travel and Tourism. Travel was what Tanya focused on for several years. She was a flight attendant for America West Airlines and took advantage of that benefit to see many parts of the world. She got her private pilot's license and Instructor Rating in Salt Lake City, Utah, and started flying as much as possible.

In 1995, Tanya packed her yellow lab-mix, Tia, a tent and sleeping bag into her Toyota Supra and headed to Bellingham, Wash., to catch a ferry heading to Alaska. She got a job flying for Bering Air out of Nome, then Baker Air in Kotzebue and Arctic Transport Services out of Nome and Bethel. She flew for Penn Air for several years, and flew contract with Yute Air in Anchorage, eventually getting hired to fly on the North Slope for ConocoPhillips. She finished her flying career as captain in the Boeing 737, flying workers from Anchorage and Fairbanks to the Slope and back.

Tanya met Tom Carlson in 1997, and they married in 2003. They enjoyed exploring Alaska with their dogs in Tom's Cessna 180, camping yearly at Twin Lakes, or the Tikchik Lakes, and King fishing on the Deshka River. They traveled the world from New Zealand, to Europe, Easter Island, the Galapagos, Peru and many other places.

Tanya was an ardent supporter of the arts, and enjoyed attending performances as wall as playing piano and marimba, dancing ballet and tap and practicing yoga and Pilates. She was also a runner, biker and swimmer, completing, among others, the Lost Lake Run, Golden Nugget Triathlon and the Equinox Marathon.

Tanya was loved by all who knew her, and her fairness, honesty, integrity, generosity, compassion and courage will be missed.

A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, October 15th, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 South 900 East, Salt Lake City. Guests are encouraged to use the complimentary valet parking provided on the north side of the building. Online condolences may be offered and a tribute slideshow may be viewed at www.starksfuneral.com