Tanya Stum, who resided in Oak Bluffs with her family, Michele and Rich Beasley Maloney, during her last years, died on Jan. 27, 2026, holding her sister’s hand, after a valiant battle with resurgent Stage IV breast cancer, which reappeared after 16 years in remission.
Tanya was born in Chambersburg, Pa., on April 17, 1967, and lived there her first 18 years. Tanya received her undergraduate degree in voice performance from Carnegie Mellon University and graduate degree in elementary education from the University of Pittsburgh, receiving a full scholarship from the Henry C. Frick Educational Fund of the Buhl Foundation. She continued her education at Holy Names University in Oakland, earning a master’s degree in music education specializing in Kodály method, graduating cum laude.
Tanya was a multitalented person, as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. She performed with the San Francisco Opera Chorus, Pittsburgh Opera Chorus, Pacific Mozart Ensemble, and Nevenka. She was a vocalist and trainer for Aswat, an ensemble specializing in Arabic music. She served as the preparatory director for the San Francisco Boys Chorus, and was highly involved with the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, which she deeply loved. She sang with Convivium – San Francisco Classical Voice, which specializes in 21st-century choral repertoire. She ended her career as a beloved music teacher at Love Elementary School in Alameda, Calif. Alongside her extraordinary musical abilities, she had a voice so rich and soulful it could, even if only briefly, stop the world on its axis, as members of the Unitarian Universalists of Vineyard Haven could attest from her few times there as substitute music director.
Tanya was an enthusiastic birder, rescue dog mom to her sweet babies Trix, Fudgie, and Scooter, a former wildlife rehabilitator, a runner, a paddleboarder, and an ocean swimmer. She loved to dance, and joined groups in Oakland, where she lived most of her adult life, and at the P.A. Club on the Island. Having a natural rhythm and joy for movement, Tanya could foxtrot, swing, and tango with the best of them. She especially adored the Martha’s Vineyard Polar Bears and Polar Bear Swimmers.
Tanya was a light-filled soul. Anyone who had the fortune to be in Tanya’s presence knew her to be a loving, supportive, compassionate individual, always open-minded, communicative, and easy to be around. She was the most alive, energetic person with a terminal disease we ever knew, an inspiration for how to face the end of life. The world will be a duller and dimmer place without Tanya in it.
Tanya was so grateful to the staff and volunteers at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and Mass General Hospital who gave her deeply supportive, effective care during her final battles. She gave cancer a valiant, if also heartbreaking, run for it.
Tanya’s cheeky sense of humor rose easily to the surface. Her advice to friends and family: If you are one of those scattering her ashes, be mindful of the wind direction! We are mindful, and so will be swimming her out into the ocean on an outgoing tide.
Her informal memorial service will take place this Saturday, July 25, 2026, at 8:30 am, on the sidewalk by the right side of Inkwell Beach, where the Polar Bear Swimmers meet: the place and the people she loved best here on the Vineyard.
All are welcome to swim with us — come with your suit and towel, or just a sweater to cheer us on from the beach. There will be a short prayer followed by the sharing of memories by any who wish to speak, after which we will take her out for a last swim. In the Polar Bear tradition of sharing, please bring any breakfast foods or drinks you’d like to share — we will provide what we can.