<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hi Susan,<div class="">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!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Ed Ellis</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Mar 29, 2024, at 8:49 PM, spgurganus--- via Simtrainer-l <<a href="mailto:simtrainer-l@lists.ku.edu" class="">simtrainer-l@lists.ku.edu</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div dir="auto" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class="">This is a belated announcement about Mary Anne Tharin’s passing in February.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class="">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).</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class=""> 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.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class=""> 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.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class=""> 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.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class="">Here is her obit:</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class=""><div style="display: block;" class=""><div style="-webkit-user-select: all; -webkit-user-drag: element; display: inline-block;" class="apple-rich-link" draggable="true" role="link" data-url="https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023"><a style="border-radius:10px;font-family:-apple-system, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;display:block;-webkit-user-select:none;width:300px;user-select:none;-webkit-user-modify:read-only;user-modify:read-only;overflow:hidden;text-decoration:none;" class="lp-rich-link" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023" originalsrc="https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023" shash="Qod4mJQaXs64uord9GuH88Djw2qWpbVrpvXyw1P3L1QvU9/U/StiSBYGK1z7gcOSWjAhUzoGDu3Dzog1/0ULjnPlKjWNaMZ2bEMC9gmgFmGmq3yqdprpgcYZIeqr7/PcHcKUkWBXmQSJuboPtKQuLRV51gx5gQ1mGBXWZrB//ik=" dir="ltr" role="button" draggable="false" width="300"><table style="table-layout:fixed;border-collapse:collapse;width:300px;background-color:#E9E9EB;font-family:-apple-system, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" class="lp-rich-link-emailBaseTable" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="300"><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td vertical-align="center" align="center" class=""><span id="cid:87DDD11E-8475-4773-8975-48960FB709A7"><Social.jpg></span></td></tr><tr class=""><td vertical-align="center" class=""><table bgcolor="#E9E9EB" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="300" style="font-family:-apple-system, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;table-layout:fixed;background-color:rgba(233, 233, 235, 1);" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar"><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td style="padding:8px 0px 8px 0px;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStackItem"><div style="max-width:100%;margin:0px 16px 0px 16px;overflow:hidden;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStack"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:500;font-size:12px;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;text-align:left;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStack-topCaption-leading"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023" originalsrc="https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023" shash="Qod4mJQaXs64uord9GuH88Djw2qWpbVrpvXyw1P3L1QvU9/U/StiSBYGK1z7gcOSWjAhUzoGDu3Dzog1/0ULjnPlKjWNaMZ2bEMC9gmgFmGmq3yqdprpgcYZIeqr7/PcHcKUkWBXmQSJuboPtKQuLRV51gx5gQ1mGBXWZrB//ik=" style="text-decoration: none" draggable="false" class=""><font style="" class="">Obituary information for Mary Anne Odom Tharin</font></a></div><div style="word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:400;font-size:11px;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;text-align:left;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStack-bottomCaption-leading"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023" originalsrc="https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023" shash="Qod4mJQaXs64uord9GuH88Djw2qWpbVrpvXyw1P3L1QvU9/U/StiSBYGK1z7gcOSWjAhUzoGDu3Dzog1/0ULjnPlKjWNaMZ2bEMC9gmgFmGmq3yqdprpgcYZIeqr7/PcHcKUkWBXmQSJuboPtKQuLRV51gx5gQ1mGBXWZrB//ik=" style="text-decoration: none" draggable="false" class=""><font color="#A2A2A9" style="color: rgba(60, 60, 67, 0.6);" class="">hdoliver.com</font></a></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div></div><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" class=""><div class=""><div class="apple-rich-link" draggable="true" role="link" data-url="https://www.hdoliver.com/obituaries/Mary-Anne-Odom-Tharin?obId=30516023" style="-webkit-user-select: all; -webkit-user-drag: element; display: inline-block;"></div></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><div dir="ltr" class="">Susan P Gurganus</div><div dir="ltr" class="">Professor Emerita</div><div dir="ltr" class="">College of Charleston</div><div dir="ltr" class="">Residence: Raleigh NC</div></div></div>_______________________________________________<br class="">Simtrainer-l mailing list<br class=""><a href="mailto:Simtrainer-l@lists.ku.edu" class="">Simtrainer-l@lists.ku.edu</a><br class="">https://lists.ku.edu/listinfo/simtrainer-l<br class=""></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></body></html>