Tisha Kirkendall, age 31,of Isanti passed away unexpectedly Sunday, March 22, 2009at her home. A funeral service will be held at 2:00P.M. on Thursday, March 26th atStrike Funeral Home – Isanti Chapel. Visitation will be held 1 hour prior to the service. Interment will be at Isanti Union Cemetery.
Tisha Nicolle Kirkendall was born December 24, 1977 to Kim and Debbie Sandvig in Robbinsdale. She was raised in Anoka County and graduated from Centennial High School with distinctive honors, Class of 1996. Tisha then attended Anoka Ramsey for 2 years. On May 6, 2000 she married Jamie Kirkendall. They lived in Forest Lake until moving to their home in Isanti in 2005. She was a member of Family of Christ Lutheran Church in Ham Lake. Tisha loved spending time with her children and all of the family activities. She was a giving person who gave everything she had in every project or person she was working with. Tisha hated doing house work but she enjoyed fishing, doing cross-stitch and working on her computer.
Tisha passed away unexpectedly at her home in Isanti at the age of 31 years, 2 months and 28 days. She is survived by her husband, Jamie of Isanti; her three children, Kaitlyn, Kiaunna and Keven; father, Kim Sandvig of Isanti; mother and step-father, Debbie and David Fillbrandt of Circle Pines; mother and father-in-law, Arden and Shirley Kirkendall of Anoka; grandparents, Arliss Crandall of Coon Rapids, Darrell and Norma Zea of Lakefield, Fay and Jack Wyttenbach of California, Gladys Kirkendall of Coon Rapids; two sisters, Chelsey Fillbrandt of Circle Pines, Kally Sandvig of Elk River; two brothers, Joshua Fillbrandt of Circle Pines, Kalvin (Lauren) Sandvig of Isanti; two brother-in-laws, Arden (Tiffany) Kirkendall of Zimmerman, Jessie (Lonnie) Kirkendall of Andover; one sister-in-law, Kayle Jean (Aaron) Ostrom of Andover; by her loving dog, Kermit and by many loving aunts, uncles and other relatives and friends.
Dear Family,
I knew Tisha through work at Allina. She was always so eager to help a co-worker in need. She was so full of life and spunk!
May your thoughts and memories of Tisha/your mom bring peace and joy to your hearts!
Dear family of Tisha
I’m very sorry for your loss. I use to work with Tisha she was a wonderful caring person who always had a smile. She will be missed greatly!
Dear family,
I am so sorry for the heartbreak you are feeling right now. I worked with Tisha at and so enjoyed the little talks we had. She was a tender and loving person. I know I will miss her, and her smile lots.
My prayer is that God will give you peace and surround all of you with His love and grace. I hope all of the memories you have will bring you comfort.
We will all see her again!!!!
I will miss Tisha so very much. I have been so blessed to have her as my friend and for her to call me friend. Her memory will be held in my heart forever. My deepest, heartfelt sympathy goes her family and friends.
To the family of Tisha,
I had the pleasure of working with Tisha at Allina. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Family of “Niki”:
I went to school with Tisha. I recently reconnected with her on Facebook earlier this year. My deepest sympathy goes out to you all. I know she loved being a mommy, wife & was a dear friend to so many. May God bless you all during this difficult time.
To the family of tisha im writing this with a heavy heart. I would just like to say that tisha is an amazing woman and she will live on in our hearts forever. I just recently re connected with her again and could see the she loved her husband and kids more than anything in the world. Rest in peace tisha you touched the hearts of all that was around you
Dear Family,
Tisha was a very good friend of mine from School (Centennial). We lost touch and I had recently found her on Facebook. I remember sleepovers and playing board games with her and her family when we were younger. We had alot of fun. I really wish that I would have had the chance to meet up with her and catch up. I will miss her very much. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
I am so sorry for your loss. I worked with Tisha at Allina and was saddened by the news. May you find comfort in knowing that others with grieve with you and for you during this difficult time.
I am writing this with a heavy heart I have known Tisha for years and have just recenlty came in contact with her again in the past few months. Tisha is a amazing woman with a wonderful heart she has touched the lives of many that knew her.From our recent conversations she loved being a wife and a mommy. I will keep you family in my thoughts and prayers during this difficult time
Much Love Amy
I worked with Tisha at Allina and she was a dear friend to me. I will miss hearing about the kids. She really did love them. I am very sorry for your loss. May God strengthen, give you peace, and comfort you in your time of loss.
Thank God I had the chance to be able get to know someone as wonderful as Tisha. Although the time was too short, I truly feel blessed in my heart that she was able to touch my life in such a wonderful way. I will always miss you Tisha.
Dearest Debbie,
I am so sorry I never got a chance to meet “Niki” as you always call her. I too, am deeply saddened by your loss. I hope you know that myself, and everyone here at HealthEast are thinking and praying for you and your family in this very sad time. We all love you here and send our deepest regrets and sympathy.
Love,
Summer
Jamie – I am a co-worker at Hoffman. I saw the notice come through about Tisha. Your wife sounds like a wonderful woman. My thoughts are with you as you and your children grieve and adjust to a new life. Remember she will always be with you in your heart and now your children have a new guardian angel. The pain is tough and deep just remember of all the people who are praying for you and want to help.
I’m so sorry to hear about Tisha’s death. I had recently re-connected with her on Facebook and didn’t get a chance to really ‘catch up’ on high school days! I had graduated with her and she was a great person. I really enjoyed hanging out with her at school and wished I could have hung out with her once I connected with her on Facebook. I know what it’s like to lose someone so close to the heart. In 1993, I had lost my father to an unexpected heart attack and it’s hard losing a loved one. My heart and prayers go out to all of you!!! GOD BLESS and I’m sorry to say that I will not be able to make it to the funeral :( I really wished I could, but I have to work.
Anyways, I just wanted to let Tisha’s family know that I was thinking of them in their time of need.
R.I.P. Tisha!!! You sure knew how to make others smile!!!
Love,
Jessica, Victor, Emily and Duane Arreola
Dear Kirkendall family:
I was blessed by having the opportunity to work with Tisha at Allina. She was always so helpful to all of us. I work out in the field and whenever I came in we would chat a bit. She was so proud of her family. I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing her with us. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Rest in Peace Tisha!
Dear Family-
My thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time. Tisha was a wonderful, caring, giving person. She was always willing to reach out and help others in her role at Allina. She will be missed by so many. May the memories you’ve shared carry you through this time. God Bless you all!
Dear Family, I had the pleasure of watching Niki grown, such a wonderful girl full of life, she came from a outstand loving caring family, I believe only the good ones go early, I know Niki had health problems and now she is resting in peace, words can’t decripe what a wonderful girl she is I just wish she was here for me to tell her that, everytime i saw her there was a big smile on her face. She is a special lady so special she left us with the most beautiful children but its ok she know she left them in good loving hands. I will always remember Niki, she always touched your heart where ever she walk, I was so proud of her, I am walking the earth so glad I had time with her in my life but also sad that I will miss her, I have nothing but good memories of such a special lady, Now she is gone but no more pain and I can understand that one. My heart goes out to all of you, I will always be here for everyone and I will always love that special lady, Niki you are the best rest now baby you will always be in our hearts, Love Kathy Zaczkowski
I was blessed by having the opportunity to know and work with Tisha at Allina. She was a wonderful person, always willing to help and had an infectious smile. My thoughts and prayers go out to her loved ones.
May you find comfort in the wonderful memories you have of her.
To the Kirkendall Family:
I too worked with Tisha at Allina. Tisha was a wonderful person who brought joy to everyone she came in contact with. She had a special way about her and was the type of person who could smile and change the way you were feeling if you were having a bad day.
I know that Tisha loved her family very much because she often talked about you. She had a special and deep passion for her family.
We will be praying to God for strength for your family.
On behalf of the Volunteer Services Dept. at Allina Hospice we were very saddened by Tisha passing.
How blessed & lucky we were to have her as a coworker. She supported our department with her skills and talents in such a giving way. She was a kind and loving person.
Tisha loved her family. Her “cube” at work displayed pictures of them in such a proud manner,and yes we noticed she seemed to like “frog’s” too.
May the best of memories sustain you at this very difficult time.
Volunteer Services
Allina Home & Community Services
I like many others had the privilage to work and get to know Tisha at Allina. She was always someone that you could ask for help and she would be right there. Even if we just had a question and she didn’t know the answer she found someone that did. Yes all that touched her life knew how important all her family was to her, she loved you all so much. We were so blessed to have had her in our lives.
We will miss her.
I hope that God reaches out and wraps his loving arms around you all.
Bless you all during this very difficult time.
I am so glad to have known Tisha as her manager at Allina. She was a bundle of energy, helping dozens of people with dozens of different requests every day. She treated everyone with compassion and a smile or joke.
Tisha proudly shared many stories about her family such as fishing trips and helping at the kids’ school. She loved you very much.
The service today was a wonderful tribute to Tisha’s life. I will keep you all in my prayers.
Tisha’s cube was next to mine at Allina and she loved telling stories about her family and sharing photos. We used to talk about the plants we were growing, she had a beautiful one by her desk. Tisha gave each of us a piece of jewelry she had made one time and I still have it from her, on my keychain. You are all in my thoughts and prayers, may you find comfort and peace. I am sorry for your loss.
I also worked with Tisha at Allina. We were both Administrative Assistants and worked on many projects together. She was always willing to learn new things and help out in any way she could.
She talked about her family all the time and had such a deep love for each of you. I know one of her favorite things was fishing with you last summer.
My heart aches for all of you as you are grieving. You are constantly in my thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. May God’s unfailing love be your strength as he comforts you and may he give you a peace which transcends all understanding.
I am Tisha’s (Niki) mom. Oh my, the support and prayers are overwhelming. I’m not complaining!! She loved everyone she met. She talked very highly of all of you at Allina. She was a wonderful person, a loving mother, a loving wife, and a beautiful friend. She was my bestest friend. Thank you all for sharing your tears and your heart with us. Tisha will be deeply missed.
Thank you.
I loved to tease Tisha about her “flower” garden out front. She loved spending time outside and that gave me the opportunity to walk across the street and chat. She was a very sweet, wonderful neighbor. Oh! How we will miss her. Jamie, you know that we are here for you whenever we can be of help. We pray for you daily, as we look across the street. May our God give you His perfect peace. Your neighbors and friends.
I loved to tease Tisha about her “Flower Garden”. I would often go across the street and chat while she was enjoying the out-of-doors. What wonderful neighbors this family is. Jamie, we will be available for you. We pray for you daily. We pray God’s deep, deep peace for you and your family.
Miss you much Tisha, its been about a year and a half and i cant believe its been that long. I am sory about some of the things that are going on in the familey right now. If you can see, then you know what im talking about. and believe me , even though it looks like nobody cares, some of us do.
I am Tisha’s daughter. I have always loved her in my heart.When she would read The GingerBread man book to me, she would always do her little funny voice, then both of us would burst into laughter.She is the most hilarious person I have ever knew and loved. If I change my name when I grow up it would be Niki like mom’s nickname. We will always have my mother in our hearts and we will NEVER forget her.