Tammy Reid Mulkey

At 2:21 pm on Sunday, April 27, 2025, we lost our beloved Tammy Lynn Reid Mulkey. Tammy was born on March 19, 1968, to Tommy and Ginger Reid. Tammy was strong willed and lived her life on her own terms. She was always the perfect mixture of tomboy and girly girl, playing basketball and baseball while also tap dancing and cheerleading. She was a graduate of Pisgah High School, class of 1986 (go Bears!).

Tammy began her long working career at the exit 37 truck stop in Canton at the age of just 14. She put herself through college working all manner of jobs in order to earn three separate associate's degrees, including one from her precious University of Virginia (go Cavs!) and a Bachelor's in Health Services Management from the University of North Carolina, Asheville (go Bulldogs!). Tammy’s first great love was science, especially nuclear technology. She worked in nuclear medicine at Mission Hospital in Asheville for 14 years and then spending the next 19 years as the Radiation Safety Officer for the Charles George Veterans Affairs Memorial Center. If you needed more proof, meeting her cat named Atom, seeing her impressive collection of uranium glass, or hearing her gleefully recount how terrifying the sound of the Geiger counter noise was in the trailer for “Oppenheimer,” you know that Tammy loved nukes.

Tammy’s second great love was for cats: Seeing cats, petting cats, snuggling cats, pspsps-ing cats, being oblivious to an earthquake caused by a volcano because she was too busy petting stray cats. If you heard “lookity da kitty! Isn’t it cuuuuuute!” you know you’d lost Tammy’s attention for a while. Along with so many of us, she is missed greatly by her kitties, Raven and Raider.

The greatest love of her life, however, was her husband Scott. Meeting in September 2002, they quickly realized that they never wanted to be apart. Their wedding on November 15, 2003, was the highlight of the year, featuring a great live band, “Dueling Banjos” as the recessional, clogging enough to keep Dr. Scholl’s in business for years, but most of all, so much love. Their life together for the next nearly 22 years was filled with laughter, tie-dye, and an incredible amount of adventure. No two people have ever been so different and yet so perfect for each other.

Though she never had children of her own, Tammy delighted in being an aunt to two nieces and five nephews. Every single one of them had her wrapped around their pinkies. “Can we go to Wrestlemania for my birthday?” Aunt Tammy had bought tickets before you even finished asking the question. “Can we get a bow and arrow as our souvenir?” Not only did she buy them, but set up a shooting range in the backyard to boot. At Aunt Tammy’s house, you never knew what you might learn, whether it be how to build a bonfire or how to perfectly launch throwing knives.

To know Tammy was to know the best and silliest parts of life, illuminated in her own special way. Her delight in even the smallest of things was infectious. She’d subject you to goofy pranks like her screaming ink pen over and over with glee. Anytime she tasted something she found delicious, she’d force a bite down your throat so that you could enjoy it too. NEVER tell her that you had an allergy – Tammy would convince you she had an “old mountain remedy” and you’ll end up burping turpentine for a week. Of course, there was the time she requested the tightest curl in her hair, simply to scare the people working in the jewelry store next door. She loved her outdoor blink camera and her phone was full of pictures and videos of every bear, raccoon and chipmunk butt that was captured. She was Ozzy Osbourne’s biggest fan and followed the Oakland/LA/Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders for over 40 years. Seeing them play at their home stadium in 2007, she couldn’t stop exclaiming “I FOUND MY PEOPLE” after the experience. The people and things that Tammy loved, she loved passionately.

Tammy was preceded in death by her parents, Tommy and Ginger (née Green) Reid. She is survived by her adoring husband of twenty-one and a half years, Scott. Her sisters-in-law Kate Derenches (Mike) and Jacquie Mulkey (Brian Vaughan), her brother Daniel Reid, nieces Hollie Ferguson (Alex), Mariah Reid, and nephews Dakoda Ransom, Jack Derenches, Dominic Ransom, Asa Ransom, and Casey Derenches.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, May 17th, at the Wells Funeral Home in Canton, NC. We ask that you please bring a covered dish to share for the reception following the service. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you please make a donation to the Asheville Cat Weirdos in Tammy’s name: https://ashevillecatweirdos.org/donate/