Birth April 25, 1945New York, NYDeath Jan. 12, 2024Brandon, VTDetails of serviceAt Tecari’s request, no services have taken place.Tecari Shuman dropped his earthly form in the early hours of Jan 12, 2024, at home, surrounded by the loving and compassionate presence of family and friends, both in person and in spirit. Complications of Parkinson’s disease took him at the age of 78.Born on April 26, 1945, in New York, NY, Tecari grew up in Brooklyn and Queens. According to family lore, he knew who he was from a young age, telling his parents when he was just three that they had given him the wrong name. He always chose the chow mein sandwich instead of classic deli fare at Nathan’s on Coney Island, and discovered a deep affinity with the natural world while growing up in urban environments.Tecari’s sense of self and ability to remain true to who he was served him well throughout his life. Though he contracted polio as a child and lived with invisible weakness and pain ever afterward, he pursued a degree in horticulture and landscape design (from what was then Farmingdale University) and dedicated his life to caring for the earth despite the toll it took on his body. From running landscape crews on Long Island, homesteading with his first wife, Ronne, in southwest Virginia, and overseeing the organic gardens for and managing Heartwood Institute in Garberville, CA, Tecari rolled up his sleeves to do the hard work to help sustain the planet that sustains all of us. Some questioned why he worked his body so hard, but for Tecari, it wasn’t optional; his chosen name means “one who touches the earth.”What many never knew about him was that he also had a keen business acumen. Over the course of his professional life, Tecari returned two companies to financial stability while preserving their core purposes and values. He also created his own successful business in the Bay Area, supplying massage students and graduates with high-quality tables and other equipment necessary to serve their clients with excellence. He only walked away from it when his father’s failing health called him to be fully present in his parents’ lives.Tecari had returned to the East Coast and was living and landscaping on Shelter Island, NY, when he met his person, Ann Marie Roth, while on retreat at Kripalu in the Berkshires. They made a home together in Montepelier and Monkton, Vermont, then in Albuquerque, NM, for several years. The Green Mountains eventually called them back, and Brandon welcomed them with open arms. Tecari spent his years with Ann Marie loving her deeply, supporting her personal, spiritual, and professional growth, introducing her to the healing power of whole plant foods, and teaching her so very much about what it means to respect and care for Mother Earth and the creatures who inhabit it.Ann Marie was just one person whose life was influenced for the better by knowing Tecari. He has left a legacy of decades-old friendships and even acquaintanceships that were shaped by his heart, ability to listen, generosity, and living in alignment with his values. He was physically strong, emotionally intelligent and available, ever-youthful, a savant when it came to growing food, and a handsome fella, too. Everyone seems to remember Tecari, even if they only met him once.Tecari is and will continue to be profoundly missed and loved by his wife and partner, Ann Marie; he was her person, too. He is also dearly missed by his brother Barry Shuman and his wife Claire of Tampa, FL and Apple Valley, OH; cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and their families on both sides of the family; and the many friends, old and new, he held in his heart. Tecari was predeceased by his parents, Abraham and Hazel Shuman.AnnMarie would like to thank all of those who helped Tecari maintain his quality of life, even as his body was failing. The “coffee guys” welcomed him into their midst, always kept a space for him at the table, and showed him many acts of kindness over the years. His long-term care team, Savannah Martin and Andrew Cliver, kept him safe, active, and engaged for many years, and they became family along the way. Robert Black helped Tecari discover his gift for painting when the Parkinson’s diagnosis felt like the end of his creative life. Melissa Falk, Celina Fuller, and many other providers from the VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region helped put Tecari back together when he chose to take risks, which really was inevitable, given his fierce independence. In his final months, Fran Tice, RN, guided Tecari’s care with compassion, skill, and wise counsel. Because of their support, AnnMarie was able to honor Tecari’s request to remain at home and part of the community until it was time for him to go.Read the story on VTDigger here: Tecari Shuman.