Plan for the Future
Tessa Annabel Handerhan passed away on January 10th 2019 in the pediatric ICU of the Morristown Medical Center. She was 9 years old. She lived her life in Chatham, NJ where she attended Stanley Nursery School, Washington Avenue School and Lafayette Avenue School. She was in the 4th grade. By knowing who she was and being true to herself, Tessa opened the hearts and minds of many. The life lessons she taught us made us better people and we are grateful for that.
Tessa was an extremely smart, funny, and quirky girl whose empathy was boundless and whose heart was filled with goodness and kindness. She was a unique kid who always had a book in her hand and adored llamas, Shopkins, old cartoons, and her favorite color brown. Tessa enjoyed belting out songs at the top of her lungs, dance parties in the kitchen, and putting on various performances for her family. Her world revolved around school, where she especially loved flute and Spanish class. Tessa’s intellect often amazed those around her, whether it was identifying all the car brand symbols before her 2nd birthday, or more recently her ability to say any word or phrase backwards effortlessly. She had a way with words and her original stories, characters, games and jokes that she created daily will be missed, along with her joyous, toothy grin.
Tessa is survived by her heartbroken parents, Dan and Kate, and her brothers, Chad, age 7, and Grant, age 5. In addition, she leaves behind four grandparents, three aunts, three uncles, six cousins, and a group of wonderful friends.