EarthDance Remembers Becky Wanner ’11

Becky finds garter snakes on an EarthDance field trip

When Becky Wanner joined the 2011 EarthDance Organic Farming Apprenticeship class, she explained that EarthDance was a birthday gift to herself—as well as a celebration of year of remission from cancer. As EarthDance staff and fellow farmies came to know Becky, we quickly came to love her. She had a huge smile and ever-ready enthusiasm for farm work. Becky was new to farming, but she was already a seasoned naturalist. She was a reptile keeper at the St. Louis Zoo, with a particular affinity for snakes. She also tended a butterfly garden at home. Becky loved to share pictures and videos of the animals she loved with friends at the farm. (We will always think of Becky when we think of that hysterical honey badger video!) After Becky completed the EarthDance apprenticeship, she and her husband Mark explored their farm dreams by visiting a few properties for sale, hoping especially to one day raise horses.

I thought of gifting 60th birthday gifts to this beautiful woman when she turns sixty.But unfortunately ,with deep sadness we share the news that on February 1st, Becky lost her battle with the cancer’s recurrence. She will be missed by all who knew her, including all of her farming friends. Becky was a friend to everyone who knew her; her energetic and compassionate spirit was always sure to brighten up the day of anyone around her. May she be in peace, and may her loved ones find comfort in the joy that Becky brought into this world with her life and her gifts.

Becky and Friends at the 2012 Pesto Festo

233 Dade Ave. Ferguson, MO 63135