Two film clips featuring Tina Meranda were shown during her funeral in Brown County on October 6.

One was a report on “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer,” and the other was an episode of the documentary series “Brave New World with Stephen Hawking.” Both programs focused on a scientific advance concerning the treatment of cancer.

The disease took the life of Tina Meranda, but not before she helped researchers gain valuable knowledge through her participation in a series of drug trials that could benefit many people.

Tina Meranda was 43 when she died at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on October 1. In addition to her husband of nearly 15 years, Seth Meranda, she is survived by their two sons, Preston, 13, and Austin, 10.

“She had just started a new trial drug,” her husband said. “She was the first one to try it. A lot of things look promising in the lab. She only took one dose. We had no reason to think something would go wrong. But that’s part of the learning curve. The staff and the kids thought she would bounce right back up like she had before. It was an unexpected death.”

Researchers are studying her tissue to learn more in the hope some other young mother can be helped, Seth Meranda said. Tina Meranda wasn’t expecting a miraculous cure.

“Her hope was everybody with cancer could live with it just like diabetes,” Seth Meranda said. “Tina was looking forward to putting cancer in its place and helping other people.”

Tina Meranda was a pioneer in many ways. In 2004, she became the first women elected clerk of courts in Brown County. She served from 2005 until last year, when she felt obligated to resign because of her illness.

“That was probably the toughest decision she ever made in her life,” Seth Meranda said. “She felt guilty on one hand because she hated when people quit a job. But she was undergoing brain cancer radiation, and she could have died. I’d never known her to quit anything.”

Tina Nixon Meranda’s commitment to public service was influenced by her paternal grandfather, the late Corwin Nixon, who served in the Ohio House of Representatives for 30 years and before that was a Warren County commissioner for 12 years. Her family owned the Lebanon Raceway in Warren County. After she married and moved to Brown County in 1998, she wanted to get involved with her new community.

Brown County and part of Warren County are within Ohio’s Second Congressional District, which I represent. Tina Meranda was a friend of mine. She was a great American who served her community with pride.

She was born in Middletown on May 1, 1969, and graduated from Lebanon High School in 1987. After earning an associate’s degree from Cincinnati State, she worked as a surgical technologist with the heart team at Cincinnati Deaconess Hospital. Her brother introduced her to Seth Meranda.

“Our first date was to a Cincinnati Bengals games,” Seth Meranda said. “Our last date was also to a Bengals game – with our kids this season against the Browns. The Bengals won both games.”

Tina Meranda was a wonderful and loving wife and mother. Most of all, she was a child of God – with all her heart and soul.

Despite the battle with cancer, “she never lost her faith,” Seth Meranda said. She was a member of Russellville United Methodist Church.

She was near death after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008. Her husband searched the Internet in hope of finding the best medical treatment, and he learned about genetically targeted drug therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital. Tina Meranda was one of the first cancer patients in the world to receive so-called smart drugs. Within 48 hours, her tumors began to shrink, she felt re-energized, and she no longer needed pain killers. The treatment added years to her life, her husband said. But the cancer spread.

She made about 40 trips to Boston for treatment. Flights out of the Cincinnati airport were expensive, and the drives to and from the Dayton airport were long. So Seth Meranda got a pilot’s license to fly her himself. Their two boys were always eager to go along on the trips. On a flight home last year, they encountered bad weather, and the single-engine plane crashed into a lake in New York.

“It was pilot error,” said Seth Meranda, whose back was injured. His wife’s collarbone was broken, but their children weren’t seriously hurt.

“When the plane filled up with water, she turned around to make sure the kids were OK and getting out – even with a broken collar bone,” Seth Meranda said. “She was the last one out of the plane.”  Afterward, grateful that her family had survived, she said, “I feel like I’m surrounded by the angels.”

Tina Meranda loved her family. She also loved horses, good wine, good food, and America.  And she didn’t shy away from the work required to pursue the American dream.  

“Her work ethic was unbelievable,” Seth Meranda said. “Everything she did, she did right and gave it her all. And she did it with a smile. Her smile was contagious.” 

Tina Meranda and her husband transformed his family’s tobacco farm into a vineyard and winery. Seth Meranda’s great-grandfather began farming the 100 acres that span Jefferson and Union townships a century ago. Tina and Seth’s children are the fifth generation to work on the family farm.

“The last tobacco crop was in 2006,” Seth Meranda said. “We opened the winery in 2007. Her favorite wine was our 2007 cabernet sauvignon. She knew a good vintage and a great wine. She had a heck of a palate. I was a beer drinker until I met Tina and she introduced me to wine.

“She did things that some people said couldn’t be done – such as grow cabernet sauvignon grapes in Brown County, Ohio,” her husband said. “She was always positive. Her glass was always half full.”

I hope Tina Meranda’s husband and two children will be comforted by the fact that she made Brown County a better place. Her contributions, her accomplishments, and her spirit will be remembered for years to come.