Tama Yu-Yuin Huang passed away on Friday, July 10, after a very private battle with cancer that started nearly 10 years ago. She left this world the same way she lived in it - sweet, tough, loving and strong.
Tama (rhymes with Mama) was born in Miaoli, Taiwan 80 years ago, but made Marianna, Florida her home for the past 52 years. Many remember her as their favorite bank teller from the Credit Union, SouthTrust and the First Bank of Marianna. Customers would stand in a longer line just to be served by the sweet, little teller who would count the money slowly and loudly for her elderly customers, and slap it down like a Vegas dealer for those who were in a hurry. But more than anything, they appreciated that she cared about them and always left them with a smile.
After retirement, anyone who entered a restaurant in town was likely to find Tama and her husband of 57 years, Paul, sitting together sharing a meal with friends. Dining out was a way of life for the petite woman who could eat her body weight every week and never gain a pound. Some of her other favorite places to go were the casinos of Biloxi, anywhere Chipola College was playing basketball and the First United Methodist Church of Marianna, where she raised her family in faith and made some of her longest and best friends. She also snuck over to Trinity Baptist every now and then, because they had great dinner gatherings and their own group of wonderful people who loved God like she did.
Friends remember Tama as one of the sweetest ladies they have ever known. They also agree that she raved endlessly about how wonderful her sons, Mark and Scott, her daughter-in-law, Julie, and her grandchildren, Brian and Alexandra were. She did all things with grace, including bragging about her family.
Tama learned the importance of family at an early age, losing her father when she was only 13. She also suffered the loss of her first three grandchildren, triplets Noah, Anna and Allison, who were born a little too soon.
And so, Tama loved the family she led with everything she had, and they are forever grateful for the wife, mom, mother-in-law and Nai-Nai that nurtured, spoiled and comforted them as long as she could, all the way up to her last minute on earth. Because of this beautiful life of faith, kindness and love, we can all be confident that there is a new saint in Heaven - her name is Tama Huang.
Memorial services will be at 11:00 AM, Friday, July 17, 2020 in the Wesley Center at First United Methodist Church with Rev. Dr. Nathan Attwood officiating and James & Sikes Funeral Home Maddox Chapel directing.
Although flowers are welcome, donations to the First United Methodist Church of Marianna are also welcome.
The family will receive friends one hour prior to the memorial service.
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