MINNEAPOLIS — Sara Hollie will never forget meeting Tonya Puckett-Miller for the first time.
Their friendship traces back to the turn of the millennium, in 2000, when Hollie started her freshman year at the University of Minnesota as a Puckett scholar. She had earned the award after graduating from North High School in Minneapolis.
"Being able to have scholarship support while I was in college was an incredible thing to have," Hollie said, "and also building relationships with the Puckett family was near and dear to my heart and many scholars."
Tonya and her husband at the time, Minnesota Twins great Kirby Puckett, started the Puckett Scholarship in 1994 to provide more opportunities for students of color.
"She truly cared about Puckett scholars from Day One. We really became a family," Hollie said. "She took moments out of her day to check in with us, invited us to events, and really cared about our success as people."
This week, when Hollie learned the news that Tonya had died of brain cancer at the age of 58, she needed a moment to collect her thoughts.
"It shocked me. Tonya was a trailblazer, and she gave back to people. She cared about children and young people," Hollie said. "It's a huge loss for our community, and for the scholarship community here at the University of Minnesota."
Indeed, Tonya left a lasting legacy across the Twin Cities, not only through the University of Minnesota scholarship fund but also through organizations like Safe Families for Children and Children's HeartLink.
Elizabeth Sweeney, the former president of Children's HeartLink, credits Tonya for helping to raise countless dollars for the pediatric heart care organization, through events such as the Kirby Puckett Eight-Ball Invitational.
"Kirby was on the front of it and Tonya really didn't care if she got the attention for all the stuff she did, but without her, none of this could have happened. It was Tonya who was the force behind it all," Sweeney said. "We wouldn't be training doctors and nurses globally so they can help kids. That wouldn't have happened without Tonya. We are all standing on her shoulders."
According to Sweeney, Tonya simply "loved people."
"I think her love for Children's HeartLink was enormous and mostly an extension of the love she had for her children, Catherine and Kirby Jr., who were so important in her life," Sweeney said. "At the core of everything, her heart was huge. And she always had an eye on wanting to do good things. That's how I want her to be remembered."
Hollie also said she wants Tonya to be remembered for her "amazing heart and ability to impact every person that she ever met."
Hollie knows that impact as well as anyone. The former Puckett Scholar, after all, has risen through the ranks to become the Director of Public Health for Ramsey County.
"Kirby would say, 'dream big.' Tonya would say, 'dream bigger.' I feel like that was embedded in me as a Puckett scholar," Hollie said. "Every time you were around Tonya you felt the love and the care and concern for you as a person... A true leader, a trailblazer, an amazing woman that everyone will miss. God Bless Tonya."
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