[Simtrainer-l] Mary Anne Tharin

[edwin ellis]

Hi Susan,
I too was at that EC Conference in Charlotte, and Mary Ann introduced me before my presentation. It was my first as a fledging PhD grad, then a brand new faculty member at Salem College. BTW, I was scared to death! I had never spoken to an audience that large and the night before, I didn’t sleep a wink due to fretting. Mary Ann was a great friend and encourager. As you noted, she was a very strong advocate for students with learning disabilities and supporter of SIM in North Carolina. When I think of her, what comes to mind is her smile and laughter followed by the many ways she demonstrated how to live a life which focused on improving the world around her….quite a legacy! What a lovely, wonderful and impactful person she was!

Ed Ellis


> On Mar 29, 2024, at 8:49 PM, spgurganus--- via Simtrainer-l <simtrainer-l at lists.ku.edu> wrote:
> 
> This is a belated announcement about Mary Anne Tharin’s passing in February.
> 
> Those of you who knew Mary Anne or worked with her knew she was the consummate professional. I shared an office with Mary Anne at the NC Department of Public Instruction in the 1980s. She was the state’s LD consultant. She oversaw state regulations and explained, ever so patiently, why a discrepancy formula alone was not enough for identification. She spearheaded personal education plans for at risk kids in the state, patterned after IEPs. She also helped develop the senior project concept in the state and how those could be demonstrated (early universal design).
>       I met Mary Anne when I was teaching high school students and she offered a workshop on the U of Kansas learning strategies—still in draft form. She trained hundreds of teachers across the state in the strategies. Her legacy lives on.
>      One year at the state EC conference DPI sponsored, Mary Anne introduced me to the bellhop at the hotel in Charlotte. He was a former special-education student of hers from the Charlotte public schools. She kept in touch.
>      After Mary Anne left DPI she worked in the governor’s office as an education liaison. She was always advocating for kids. A friend. A mentor. A colleague. A passionate advocate.
> 
> Here is her obit:
> 
> <Social.jpg>
> Obituary information for Mary Anne Odom Tharin
> hdoliver.com
>  <https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023>Obituary information for Mary Anne Odom Tharin <https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023>
> hdoliver.com <https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023>
> 
> 
> 
> Susan P Gurganus
> Professor Emerita
> College of Charleston
> Residence: Raleigh NC
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