Anna L. Tomalis

Anna Leigh Tomalis, of Clarksville, died Aug. 15, 2008, of cancer, at her residence. She was 13.

Born June 23, 1995, in Baltimore, to Ron and Liz Tomalis, she was a resident of Mechanicsburg, Pa., for the first six years of her life.

She was a student at Lime Kiln Middle School.

Family members recall that Anna exhibited valor and grace during her three-year battle against a rare form of liver cancer.

She is remembered for having a zest for life that amazed everyone she knew. Anna enjoyed spending time with her family and friends, going horseback riding, watching and playing sports, and she had a love for fashion and style.

Her father recalls that she attended Fashion Week in New York, where she met and was photographed with supermodel and talk show host Tyra Banks.

She also loved going to see Broadway plays in New York and had become close friends with the cast of "Wicked." In addition, family members said that she treated each day as a gift to be lived to its fullest.

Family members also recall that she used her illness to help others by becoming the face of trials that children with cancer go through. Despite shyness in large crowds, she did this by speaking for Relay for Life, as well as at charity events, to help others who are fighting cancer.

Anna talked with members of Congress this past spring about her journey and tried to make it easier for patients who have limited options for treatment so that they might have access to promising, yet experimental drugs. After learning that a fourth cancer treatment had failed, she organized and sponsored a blood drive that saved the lives of 180 people.

Family said that through it all, Anna had a joyous smile and an infectious laugh that comforted all.

She was predeceased by her grandfather, Albert J. Tomalis, Jr.

Anna is survived by her parents, Ron and Liz Tomalis; two sisters, Megan Tomalis and Julia Tomalis; her grandparents, Doris Tomalis, of Camp Hill, Pa., and Jack and Lucille Aellen, of Mount Airy; as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

A celebratory mass will be held Friday, August 22, 2008, 10 a.m., at St. Louis Church, 12500 Clarksville Pike, Clarksville.

Interment followed at St. Louis cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to Casey Cares Foundation, 3918 Vero Road, Suite C, Baltimore, MD 21227 or to: the FJC/Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative, 17 Bethea Drive, Ossining, NY 10562.

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