July 21, 2012
Nashville,
Tennessee, USA
Dear Friends,
It’s been one
week since Amanda de Lange returned home to her Heavenly Father. I know those
of us in Nashville have been reflecting on Amanda, with love and gratitude for
her life and her work. And from the hundreds of messages posted on her Facebook
and sent to StoriesofStarfish@gmail.com, so many of you around the world are
doing the same. Please continue sending your stories and memories!
We’re writing
with further details about several things related to Amanda, and to answer some
questions that have been asked in emails so all can benefit from the
information:
Memorial Service and Celebration of
Amanda’s Life – Saturday, August 4, 2012
Time: 4 p.m.
Place: The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4300 Hillsboro Road, Nashville,
Tennessee, 37215, USA
What to expect:
The Memorial Service will begin in the Chapel at 4:00 p.m. under the direction of Bishop Jeff Webber and Relief Society President Sherri Farr and will include
music, prayers, remarks about Amanda’s life and her love of her Savior, Jesus
Christ, as Amanda requested. Then, we’ll reconvene in the Multipurpose Room at
5:15 p.m. for a continued Celebration of Life, also as Amanda requested. This
will include music and video commemorations of Amanda’s life, additional
remarks, displays and places to write notes of thanks to the medical teams that
provided wonderful care – dinner also will be provided. Guests are welcome to
stay and visit with one another. Children are absolutely welcome and encouraged
to attend both of these events – the LDS Church is family friendly and has a
mother’s room, changing tables in the restrooms, etc. Parking will be available
at the Church, and in the lot directly across the street from the Church. If
you know for certain that you’re planning to attend the events on August. 4th,
please email me at eveboger@me.com as we’re planning food. If you don’t
know your plans yet, no problem – please just come! There will be plenty for
all!
Travel Information for Nashville,
Tennessee
If flying,
the Nashville International Airport is airport code “BNA” and serves a full
menu of airlines. There is plenty of ground transportation available
right at the airport as well: cabs, rental cars, etc.
If driving,
Nashville is easily accessible from I-65, going north and south.
Here are three hotels
we can suggest – the first two are in the Maryland Farms area of Brentwood,
and convenient to restaurants and the Interstate; the last one is in the Green
Hills area of Nashville and close to the LDS Church, also convenient to
restaurants and the Interstate:
Baymont Inn & Suites
111 Penn Warren Drive
Brentwood TN
37027
615-376-4666
Courtyard by Marriott
103 East Park Drive
Brentwood TN
37027
877-851-6763
Hampton Inn & Suites
2324 Crestmoor Road
Nashville TN
37215
615-777-0001
Remembrances of Amanda
Memorial Contributions / In Lieu of Flowers: It was
Amanda’s hope that instead of flowers, those who wish to remember her would
make a contribution in her memory to Starfish Children’s Services. You may do
this by either going to the website www.thestarfishfosterhome.org/index.apsx and clicking on the orange “Donate Now” box at the top to make a
donation online. You will be able to indicate that your donation is “in memory
of” Amanda. Or, you may send a check to Starfish Children’s Service, attn:
Patrick McLaughlin, Board Chair, 6 West 122nd Street, New York,
NY 10027. Make checks payable to
“Starfish Children’s Services” and indicate “in memory of Amanda.”
Cards: If you’d like to mail cards or letters of
condolence, or other remembrances of Amanda, please mail to attn: Eve Boger,
9481 Foothills Drive, Brentwood, TN 37027
Post-Memorial Celebration – date TBA,
either September 13 or 14, 2012
Place: Salt Lake
City, Utah
More details
will be forthcoming on this celebration. If you have any questions specifically
related to this, please email Sherri Farr at sherrifarr@comcast.net and she will get you in touch with the
organizers in Utah.
Amanda’s Book
As you know, it
was Amanda’s final wish that a book be written about her life and Starfish
babies. Thank you for sending your stories and memories to the email address: StoriesofStarfish@gmail.com and please continue to do so. You may
also submit photos and videos here as well. While Amanda was here in Nashville,
we met with several writers about her book. We have someone directing the
project that Amanda chose, according to her wishes, and her intellectual
property will be protected and shared in the way she has directed. We have an
intellectual property attorney working on the project as well. We will share
more on this at a later date – for now, we want to answer the many questions that
have come in about Amanda’s book by assuring you that things are in good hands.
We appreciate all of the queries and suggestions of potential contributors and
writers. If you have additional information or thoughts to share about Amanda’s
book, please email me at eveboger@me.com and I’ll be glad to share with the
book’s director.
Amanda de Lange – Obituary
Amanda de Lange,
51, left this Earthly life on Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 10:48 a.m. CST
surrounding by loving friends in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She waged a
courageous battle against uterine cancer, under the devoted and capable care of
medical teams at Centennial Hospital, the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute, and
Tennessee Oncology Associates in Nashville.
As the Founder
and Executive Director of Starfish Children’s Service, operating the Starfish
Foster Home in Xi’an, China, Amanda took in medically fragile children from
state orphanages in China, nurtured them back to health, provided their
necessary surgeries, and prepared them to be adopted into forever families. Amanda
and the incredible Starfish team and volunteers accomplished an incredible,
loving feat in just seven short years, taking in 168 babies, arranging and
funding nearly 250 surgeries, and facilitating 81 adoptions thus far.
Amanda was born
March 12, 1961 in Johannesburg, South Africa to Adriaan Erasmus de Lange and
Cornelia Etrecia Laing. Her father preceded her in death, and her mother,
Etrecia Jacquet, survives her. Also survived by her sister Karen Beeton;
brother Chris de Lange (Retha Lubbe); and nieces and nephews Simon Beeton,
Lutzio Beeton Parks (Michael), Michael Beeton; and Mekyla Lubbe and Nanushka
Lubbe.
Amanda belonged
to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which she joined at age 19
in Zimbabwe. She served a voluntary 18-month mission for the Church in South
Africa. She was educated at Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, graduating
with her bachelor’s degree in 1996. She subsequently taught English first in Taiwan
and then in Mainland China -- which is where she began volunteering with
Chinese orphanages and where the Chinese government granted her a license to
open a foster home. Amanda was honored with the “Service to Family” Distinguished
Service Award from Brigham Young University in 2009.
When asked what
her obituary should include, Amanda said this: "We’ve taken care of 168
babies, we’ve had almost 250 surgeries and 81 adoptions and that, my friend,
pretty much sums up my life. Because other than that, what is really important?
You boil it down and that’s the triumph of my life.”
We hope to see
you in Nashville August 4, or in Salt Lake City September 13 or 14 to celebrate
the triumph of Amanda and her life. In the meantime, please contact Sherri Farr
at sherrifarr@comcast.net with any questions.
Looking forward
to being together!
Love,
Eve
No comments:
Post a Comment