Terri Jo Vannoy

Terri Jo Vannoy, passionate servant, loyal friend, caring sister, thoughtful daughter, and loving mother, died on Thursday, April 10th, 2014. Terri’s dream was to spend her life helping others. She lived her dream by sacrificing her home, food, and money to strangers in need. She lived her dream by serving disabled men and woman, and making them feel special everyday she visited them. But most importantly she lived her dream by relentlessly loving her children. The most important thing in Terri’s life were her children. Terri lived a simple life and gave the little she had so that her children could feel loved. Even when she had no money, she always found a way to make sure they were taken care of. Terri’s generosity, in the face of hardship, astonished everyone. Terri’s life was not easy. As a teenager she lost her father to a fatal car accident. She had her first child shortly after. As a single mother, Terri raised two children with no more than a high-school diploma. She overcame both her bi-polar disorder and addiction so that she could care for them. Her son Zachary is now attending Law School and is twenty-four. Her daughter Alexa, is fourteen and in Junior High. Terri did everything in her power, even risking her own safety, to make sure her children had a chance at life. Even when Terri was living in absolute poverty she never gave up. Driven by her determination to care for her children, through prayer and the help of her family, Terri pulled herself out of absolute poverty. She astonished everyone when she overcame her hardships and began working full-time serving the mentally and physically disabled. With a heart generated by love she served them like they were her own family. She bathed them, sang songs with them, and made sure that each person felt special and important. In doing so she impacted the lives of countless men and women who needed to feel loved. Martin Luther King once said that anyone can be great because anyone can serve. “You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” Terri was a great woman. She will be remembered for her warm smile, her radiant laugh, and her generous heart. But most importantly she will be remembered as a mother who loved her children more than anything else in the world. She is survived by two children, Zachary and Alexa; mother and step-father, Jean & Charlie McMahan; 3 sisters, Becky and Wayne Hannah, Jodi and Seth Wells and Sarah Vannoy. A celebration of Terri’s life will be held this Saturday April 19th at 2 pm at Jamison’s Event Center located at 605 E. Nelson Rd., Moses Lake WA. Please sign the online guest book or leave a note for the family at www.kayserchapel.com Arrangements are in care of Kayser’s Chapel & Crematory.

Terri Jo Vannoy

July 4, 1971 - April 10, 2014