Maj. Teresa Lee Tanner, 61: Salvation Army officer

By Rick Badie

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

As a Salvation Army officer, Maj. Teresa Tanner logged hundreds of  hours helping the needy in the aftermath of a disaster.

She and Maj. Bert Tanner, her husband of 44 years, worked either on the ground or behind the scenes for hurricanes Andrew, Charley, Katrina and Frederic, among others.

Of all the posts in her 33-year career, her husband said Sarasota, Fla., proved to be the most interesting and satisfying. The couple played a role in the construction of a $10.5 million homeless shelter there.

"We dealt with rehab programs and counseling -- nothing high-profile," her husband said. "Just one person at a time. She put herself into the people, and they knew it."

For the past three months, Maj. Teresa L. Tanner of Grayson had battled colon cancer. She died from complications of the disease on Valentine's Day at her home. She was 61. A funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the Salvation Army Atlanta Temple Corps. A.S. Turner and Sons is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Tanner grew up in Fort Myers, Fla., so influenced by the work of the Salvation Army that she made it a career. Two sisters did, too. Moreover, two of Mrs. Tanner's daughters are Salvation Army officers.

In 1963, she met her future husband at the Salvation Army's Keystone Camp and Conference Center in Starke, Fla. She was a dining room attendant; he drove children to and from activities.

The Tanners married young. He was 20. She was 17. Age didn't matter, though. They shared a kindred spirit as it related to life's work.

"It made us kindred souls -- our love for  people in need," her husband said. "We shared that passion."

Their first appointment as a couple was Chattanooga, followed by stops in Pascagoula, Miss.; Dallas, Texas Jacksonville; Sarasota; and Washington, D.C.

In 1979, Mrs. Tanner was nine months pregnant with Berten, the couple's fourth child, when Hurricane Frederic struck Pascagoula. She was unfazed.

"She still worked diligently," her husband said, "sheltering the needy."

The couple spent eight years in Sarasota, their longest assignment. Besides influencing the construction of a homeless shelter, they headed up disaster-relief efforts after four hurricanes struck. Charley was the first.

"He spent time offering comfort and aid to families in a town called Arcadia, and she maintained the spirit of the church," said Bryan Pope, general manager for the Sarasota location. "She kept everything on an even keel so other folks could take care of a different part of the mission."

The Tanners came to Atlanta in 2007. Her last assignment: auxiliary secretary.

"The Salvation Army was what she was, not what she did," her husband said. "What she did was just an outreach of who she was. All those locations were not our choice, but with each assignment she found complete satisfaction."

Additional survivors include three daughters, Tera Williams of Augusta, Capt. Tasha Tanner of  Danville, Va., and Capt. Tavia Williams of  Miami; a son, Berten Lee Tanner of Grayson; three sisters, Patricia Barley of Fort Myers, Maj. Hellon Merrifield of Estero, Fla., and Maj. Donna Smith of Tampa; two brothers, Gerald McGill of Cape Coral, Fla.; and Joseph McGill of Franklin, N.C.; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.