Tanner Jay Longstreet, age 11, died peacefully at home on May 18, with his entire family holding and loving him.
Tanner was the amazing and beautiful son of Marlo Gottfurcht Longstreet of Pacific Palisades and Greg Longstreet of Brentwood; brother of Casey; grandson of Elliot Gottfurcht of Santa Monica, Sherry Rothschild and Stan Brent of Los Angeles, Harry and Renee Longstreet of Bainbridge Island, Washington and the late Diana Bodlander; and nephew of Grant Gottfurcht of Venice and Stacy Longstreet Heath of Wellington, New Zealand. He was the special buddy of Michael Schwartz of Pacific Palisades. Tanner was loved and adored by his many aunts, uncles, cousins and incredible friends.
He was diagnosed with brain cancer in September 2012. Although divorced, Marlo and Greg were an incredible team making every day the best day for Tanner.
Tanner split his time between his mom’s house and his dad’s house. He attended Marquez Elementary from kindergarten through third grade, where he loved playing on the computer, swinging from the monkey bars and skateboarding after school in the STAR program.
For the fourth grade (and the beginning of fifth grade), Tanner went to Village Glen School in Sherman Oaks, where he thrived. He loved his teachers and friends, math and computers. One of his favorite things to do was help his teacher go online, and tell her what DVD’s to check out from her local library to bring to class each week. He rode his beloved taxi (#6321) every morning to school, and won Student of the Year and Athlete of the Year honors last June.
Tanner went to camp in the Palisades. When he was younger, he went to Camp Discovery at the Simon Meadow, and for the past several years, he enjoyed days on the beach at Fitness by the Sea, where he loved being with Casey and her friends (the big kids), playing in the sand and water, winning cabana competitions and spirit bars, hanging out in the “jelly fish” cabana and being silly with his favorite counselor, J-Rock.
Tanner, who was born at Cedars-Sinai, loved living in the Palisades. Whenever he was east of the 405, he couldn’t wait to get home. As he approached the Palisades (whether it was after the McClure tunnel with the ocean in sight, or on Sunset just around Paul Revere), he would always say, “Yay, we are home!”
Tanner loved eating Shanghai Angus Steak at Panda Express, playing the Lotto Scratchers at CVS, shopping at Puzzle Zoo and scanning groceries at the self-checkout at Ralphs. He loved watching YouTube, going to Barnes & Noble and playing arcade games at Chuck E. Cheese, where he especially enjoyed playing Deal or No Deal and the skill crane/claw machine from which he always won a stuffed animal. He was great at Xbox (LEGO games and Rock Band) and Wii. He liked Century City, Topanga Mall, the movies, riding elevators (he knew every brand of elevator) and going down to Newport Beach. He also enjoyed swimming, jumping on the trampoline, riding his bicycle and Razor scooter and playing miniature golf and basketball.
At Movies in the Park in 2011, Tanner liked to go under the blanket and watch the movie from his iPad. He would sync it exactly with the start of the movie, which was typical Tanner.
After his surgery, he started ordering DVDs and VHS tapes from Amazon and eBay. He loved his favorite cartoons: “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Blue’s Clues,” “Little Bill” and “Caillou,” but also loved funny things like “Jackass,” “Robot Chicken” and “Airplane!” Once he bought all his favorite DVDs and VHS tapes from the U.S., he would buy them from the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. The family purchased a PAL player so he could watch them all. After he got sick, his favorite thing to do was to wait for deliveries. The postman, UPS, FedEx and OnTrac delivery people all knew Tanner, and stopped daily at his house with packages for him.
Tanner was a one-of-a-kind kid. He was magical. He touched the lives of everyone who knew him. He made people laugh, he was silly and he was affectionate and loving. He was so very special and will always be loved and remembered.
Tanner’s funeral was held on May 21 at Hillside Memorial Park. With over 500 people in attendance (including many Marquez friends and teachers), it was a day that everyone will remember. Anyone who wants to see a remarkable and touching service can do so at tannerlongstreet30068.hillsidememorialparksympathynet.ezwebcast.com/departed_profile
As Tanner’s coffin was laid to rest deep in the ground, and friends and family helped shovel dirt and put flowers in the grave, a phenomenon happened. A miracle. A very rare occurrence. High above the sky, a rainbow appeared—a rainbow that circled the sun. This is called a sunbow, or whirling rainbow, and is considered to be a sign from the Creator, marking a time of great change or transition on Earth. The Longstreet Family (and everyone else present) took great comfort in this miraculous rainbow. It was as if Tanner was telling everyone that everything was going to be okay.
Tanner’s 11-½ birthday was last Saturday, May 25. He was looking forward to watching the new “SpongeBob” episode, and he was planning to spend Memorial Day doing a hamburger taste test (plain and no seeds on the bun). The Longstreet Family spent Saturday morning, all together, relishing every second of the “SpongeBob” episode, and on Monday they enjoyed every one of those burgers.
In his brief life, Tanner was a true original who marched not to just a different drummer, but to an entire orchestra. The music he made will stay with us forever.
Donations may be made to the UCLA Foundation, Pediatric Brain Tumor Program in Honor of Tanner Longstreet. Send to Department of Pediatrics–UCLA Health Sciences, 10945 Le Conte Ave., Suite 3132, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1784. Attention: Jennifer Jung.
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