Help Cover Final Expenses for Bobbie Jo Lanham

On Wednesday, October 16th, 2024, we unexpectedly lost Bobbie Jo Lanham after a sudden medical emergency took a turn for the worst. Her family and the seemingly innumerable people who loved Bobbie Jo—as difficult as she sometimes made it!—are crushed to see such a bright light fade away into memory.

If you knew Bobbie Jo, you knew she came packaged with a kind of “force” that uniquely and inexplicably caused a stir wherever she went. She had the capacity to bring out the best and worst in people just by being in the same room. And if that wasn't enough, she had a mouth that could effortlessly stir shit up just as quickly as it could attract a new friend.

She possessed a happy-yet-firey personality and lived a rambling, exciting lifestyle that generated numerous almost unbelievable stories, some of which could parallel the epic tales in the books she loved to read. Despite trying to see the best in everyone, and her all-too-trusting nature backfiring many times, she kept moving forward the best way she knew how: boldly and optimistically. Even when things were rocky in her life, she'd celebrate your wins while wearing a genuine smile.

Over the years, and most recently after the trauma of the wildfire that claimed her entire city of Paradise, she began to struggle more with mental illness, often self-medicating to get through the hell that PTSD and panic disorders bring on the lives of the afflicted.

In more recent times, she had made tremendous strides to quit drinking and get back to her vibrant, healthy self, but fate seemed to have one last kick in the ass for Bobbie Jo, who really just wanted to be everyone’s friend.

Thankfully, Bobbie Jo’s boyfriend, Neal, helped support her emotionally and financially in recent years while she progressed towards other goals, like her education. However, Bobbie Jo had no savings, and the family was not prepared for the various final expenses of her passing.

As such, I’ve put this fundraiser together to help the family cover costs for pending arrangements that should be coming together in the next couple of days at the time this is written (10/19/2024). Currently, plans are still loose, but the family will likely hold a “Celebration of Life” event at the Chain O’ Lakes Conservation Club in the next week.

Please help out with a donation if you are able—all funds will be transferred to Bob and Tammy once this fundraiser concludes.

Most importantly, if you’re still here and still reading this, Bobbie Jo likely isn’t the only person you’ve lost to struggles with substances or mental illness. I feel the best way to honor her memory is just to be a pal: keep your ears open for calls for help, because they’re often subtle or obscure. You may not be able to change someone’s fate. But then again, you just might.