Tanya Michelle (Gross) Sumner passed away early morning, Friday, May 24, at home with her family nearby, after a hard-fought battle with cancer. She was fifty-three. Tanya was born in Elgin, Illinois on March 2, 1971, and raised in Fox River Grove, Illinois. She was an avid Chicago Cubs baseball fan and grew up attending many games at Wrigley Field with her dad. She continued that love for the Cubs her entire life. Tanya was a daddy’s girl and shared many interests with her dad, Rich, including car shows displaying Rich’s vintage Chevrolet Corvette, visiting antique shops, collecting vintage jewelry and stemware, and watching favorite reality television shows together. Tanya was a dedicated world traveler and visited many places with many family and friends through the years. She loved to water ski, kayak, hike, and spend time anywhere a sandy beach and a beautiful sunset could be found. Tanya loved full moons, sunrises and sunsets, preferably with a good cup of coffee, a tiramisu or a slice of flourless chocolate cake. Her favorite part of the day was evening walks in her neighborhood with her husband, Matt.
Tanya graduated from Barrington High School in 1989 and was Miss Fox River Grove that same year. Tanya earned an Associate’s Degree from William Rainey Harper College before going on to earn a Bachelor’s Degree from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, concentrating on Mass Communications and Media Studies. Tanya was involved in many activities and societies while at WKU, including the Professional Society of Journalists, and the Radio Television Digital News Association.
Tanya was a loving mother and wife, a caring friend, and a dedicated servant to her community. She was loved by all and impacted the lives and hearts of so many. A self-proclaimed storyteller at heart, Tanya always looked to focus on the most compelling messages which best connected to peoples’ emotions. It is no surprise that Tanya followed her passion for storytelling and connecting with people by becoming a professional journalist. Early in her career, she reported for a local cable TV outlet in Owensboro, Kentucky, which led to a reporting job at WEVV-TV in Evansville, Indiana. TV viewers there knew her as Tanya Jourdain, and she quickly moved on to become a TV news anchor and reporter at WFIE-TV in Evansville from 1996 to 2005. It was during that time she met and fell in love with Matt Sumner, who was a photojournalist at WFIE. The two would marry in 2006 in Key West and move to Indianapolis where they both worked in television news for a number of years. They welcomed their son, Logan, in early 2007, who has been the greatest joy and blessing in life to Tanya.
From 2005 to 2015, Tanya, known on-air to Indianapolis TV viewers as Tanya Spencer, was an anchor/reporter for WRTV-TV. She would later leave TV news to serve as the Director of Public Relations for the town of Whitestown, Indiana from 2015 to 2020, and then did communications for a United States Congressional Representative for a short period before deciding to switch careers altogether by becoming an English teacher at a small school near her home. Tanya loved being a teacher and felt a particular commitment to encourage her young female students to believe in themselves and their capabilities. Always having a love for costume jewelry, which during her TV career she often wore on air, as a teacher she would bring her necklaces and bracelets to school and give to her students to keep and wear with confidence. While battling cancer, she still lived out her community service and ran for local office, winning her seat on the town council District 3 in Whitestown and then being appointed as the Council Vice President by her peers. Tanya’s career has been prolific and her impact on her community has been profound. Despite all her accomplishments in life, Tanya always knew what was most important in life, as she shared in her final social media post as a love letter and goodbye to those who loved her so deeply. She wrote, “Time and good health. Those are our only true commodities. Our only true currencies that matter. Career, status, job titles, money; they mean nothing in the big scheme of things.” She said despite her cancer diagnosis, “…almost every day, I find blessings to count. I have been given 53 wonderful years. Many people aren’t given that much time. I have been given so many blessings and such a beautiful world to live in. I could not be more blessed with the family and friends that God has given me.”
Tanya is survived by her husband, Matt Sumner and their son, Logan Sumner; her father, Richard Gross; her sister, Tina Hylton (Tom), her niece, Tabatha Azarela, her nephew, Chad Hylton (Terra), her inlaws, Richard and Jacki Sumner, her nana-in-law, Barbara Baxter, brother-in-law, Russell Sumner (Elizabeth), nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, and innumerable friends including her “Triangle Sisters” Julia Carver Kathary and Jody Myers Chiarotti, and her dear childhood friends April Sabaj Libert and Crissy Martel.
Tanya is preceded in death and greeted lovingly at the gates of Heaven by her mother, Lily Spencer Gross and her brother, Terry Pate.
A graveside service will be held at Roseville Cemetery near Whitesville, Kentucky on Saturday, June 1, 2024, where she will be buried alongside her mother and brother. For those wishing to attend, please join the processional lineup by 1:00 p.m. Central Time, at Cecil Funeral Home at 10153 State Route 54, Whitesville, Kentucky, for the procession to the cemetery. A reception for family and friends will be held immediately after the graveside service at Safe Harbor Christian Fellowship, 2425 State Route 144 West, Hawesville, Kentucky. An additional Celebration of Life will be planned at Tanya’s home church in Whitestown, Indiana later in the summer.
In lieu of flowers, please consider memorial contributions to New Hope Christian Church, 5780 South Main Street, Whitestown, IN 46075 or to the Boone County Cancer Society, 1208 N. Lebanon Street, Lebanon, IN 46052.