TANNER, DR. LIBBY A., 85, passed away on Thursday August 2, 2012 after a courageous year-long battle with cancer. An excellent detailed article about Dr. Tanner's life and her pioneering work as a psychotherapist, a professor in Family Medicine at the University of Miami Medical School and a world-renowned human sexuality educator was published on the front page of Section B of the Miami Herald on August 12, 2012: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/11/2945436/libby-tanner-family-medicine-educator.html She is already deeply missed by her family, colleagues around the globe, and her many friends who were like family to her, including those from the last 15 years of her residence at Sunset Harbour condos in Miami Beach. She served others her entire life, and even continued to see clients at her home office until 6 weeks before her death. Born Libby Arkin in Cincinnati on December 25, 1926 to parents Anna and Sam, Libby spent her early years in Kingsport, Tenn. Her family moved to South Florida in 1943, yet Libby never lost her love for the mountains. Even after learning in summer 2011 that she had advanced cancer, she insisted on fulfilling a long-planned trip with a friend on the antique railroads in Colorado high country. Libby was a lifelong aficionada of the arts, regularly attending the opera, symphony and ballet. She loved to paint and was an avid reader, and her wanderlust led to her travels around the world for decades. Libby was also a confessed 'news junkie', as well as a supporter of progressive 'liberal' causes, including the re-election of President Obama. Libby was widowed since the December 2008 death of her husband of 58 years, Dr. Robert I. Tanner, longtime staff optometrist for the UM Athletic Department. The Tanners are all lifelong 'Canes fans: Libby received her Bachelor's from UM and taught there for many years. Her younger daughter Sally earned her B.A. from Miami in Physical Education, and is a swimming and aquatics exercise instructor in the Kendall area. Her older daughter Lauri went to her first year of college at UM, and recently graduated law school in San Francisco with a focus on international human rights and protection of environmental defenders. Libby is also survived by her sister and best friend, Tillie Salter of Miami Beach, and her loving nieces Caryle Hirshberg of northern California, and Jan Hirshberg of the Washington, DC area. Raised in a Jewish home, Libby evolved to believe in "the Universal Spirit that unites us all'. She requested cremation. A memorial service to celebrate Libby Tanner's wonderful and inspiring life will be held at 1:00pm on Sunday September 9, 2012 at Blasberg-Rubin-Zilbert Chapel, 720 71st St., Miami Beach; 305-538-6371 for more information. A reception at the Chapel will follow the service. In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, donations in her honor are requested to three of Libby's favorite charities: Rosenberg Fund for Children Jenn Meerpol, Associate Director, 413-529-0063 or online: http://www.rfc.org/tributegifts Women's Emergency Network Jennifer Toth, Executive Director, 305-670-2266 or online: http://wenmiami.org/how-you-can-help-2/ Doctors Without Borders Donor Services, 212-763-5779 or online: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/tribute.cfm
Published in Miami Herald on September 2, 2012
