Tammy Bristowe

The Lovely and Fabulous Tammy Bristowe (Marleau) has impacted all that knew her with both her living and her dying. She passed away on January 3, 2024 at the Rotary Hospice House in Prince George from an aggressive form of cancer, leaving her family and loved ones to make sense of the void left in her wake.  

Tammy is survived by her husband Allan and her beloved daughters Izzy and Lexi. She will be deeply missed by her parents Dennis and Margaret Marleau (Carson) and leaves behind her uncles Bryan Carson and Brad (Jo) Carson and Gary Mattison and her aunts, Brenda Mattison, Barbara (Jim) Stewart and Jude Marleau.  Her loss will be profoundly felt by her sister-in-law Janine Bristowe Van de Sype, brother-in-law Kurt and nephews Kale and Jayk, and Mother-in-law Michelena Bristowe.  She will also be remembered by her cousins, Bryan (Chrissy), Michelle, Nicole, Debbie, Melanie, Darrell, Shelly (Sheldon), Tanya, Cheri (Jeff), Dana, Katelyn, Austyn, Melody and numerous 2nd cousins.  Tammy was predeceased by Grandparents Raymond Marleau, William Carson, Tom & Dorothy White (Mattison), Shirley (Carson) Smith, Uncle Danny Marleau and father-in-law Jim Bristowe 

In Tammy's true fierce and determined form, she stubbornly ignored the doctors' predictions about her life expectancy and instead tenaciously shopped, budgeted and planned for her last few vacations and final Christmas with her family.  She accomplished this goal in the same manner as she organized her final days and future plans for her family without her.  Not one for tradition, she left clear instructions on her wishes;  including for her obituary to not be ordinary, as "ordinary would be annoying."  Ordinary is one thing The Fabulous Tammy Bristowe could never be accused of being.  

Her wishes also included for it not to be written in her obituary that she "lost the battle to cancer," as in her words, "I am way too competitive for my last thing on earth to be that I lost."  Born at Burnaby General Hospital in 1976 and moving to Prince George when she was five, Tammy was a true competitor in all things.  She grew up as a competitive figure skater in the winter and played softball in the summer. Margaret and Dennis were there for all of it. Margaret was even President of the Prince George Minor Girls Softball League and Dennis coached as well as made sure the diamonds were in top condition. She found her love for soccer later in the life but these were the teams she was meant to play on. She was always up for an adventure and loved to travel; proudly carrying the unofficial title of Family Vacation Planner Extraordinaire. (During Covid, she re-planned a family trip to Disneyland three years in a row.)   

Tammy saw the importance of work that benefitted her community and did so with compassion and grace.  She attended the College of New Caledonia in Prince George before she earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from the University College of the Fraser Valley and a Master's Degree from the University of Phoenix in Organizational Management. They really could not have come up with a better masters designation for her. In her many careers she worked with disadvantaged youth, federal offenders and later with the medical community.  She embraced change and always challenged herself to try new things, even starting her own consulting business on the side. She really came into her own in the medical field finally finding a career that really fit her. If you worked with Tammy, she wasn't shy and stood up for what she thought was right.

Tammy was a collector, but of people, not things.  She knew the importance of life lies in the connections we make with others, not in material belongings.  She was a loving and proud daughter and a social coordinator in her various groups of friends that she collected from school, work, and sports.  People were drawn to Tammy's spirit, wit and fearless approach to life. She possessed a zest for the world that was a fine blend of mischief and adventure.  

At a bar in 2007, a mutual friend gave Allan $20 to buy Tammy a drink.  The best money Allan ever spent led to 4 weddings (to the same Allan) and exactly three years from their first date they became a family with the birth of Izzy. Almost another 3 years would go by when they would add another beautiful blonde to their family when Lexi came along. Tammy relished her role as a mother and lived to watch her children learn, compete, and grow.  Worn down by her family after 11 years of refusal, a late addition to the household was 22-pound Ryder.  Despite not wanting the pup in the first place, Ryder was the shadow on Tammy's bed during her illness and one of the last to lick (kiss) her goodbye.     

So, on Tammy's behalf, garden, go for a boat ride, drink a mojito on the beach, become a craft beer snob or have a slice of Billy Miner Pie.  Travel and see the world, have hard/deep conversations, live your best active life, stop taking yourself so seriously and tell it to others straight, but kind.  Keep Tammy alive in your memories and speak of her often.  And most of all, be available to her family, husband and children as they face this journey of grief. And for damned sure, buy yourself a pair of Fluevogs!  

We are all different because Tammy was here.  A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday July 6,2024 at 1:00 p.m. at Kinsmen Club (777 Kinsmen Place) in Prince George.  If you would like to tell the story of how you met or any memories, you have with her you can email margaret13sv@outlook.com. If you are interested in donating to any charities, please consider the Rotary Hospice House or The BC Cancer Society.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Tammy Bristowe, please visit our floral store.