Amanda's Obituary
Amanda Shay [Odom] Wilkins, 33, of Prince Frederick, MD passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, surrounded by her family and closest friends.
Amanda was born July 3, 1985 in Annapolis, MD, and was the beautiful daughter to Rona Carbauh Hays of Huntingtown, MD; Patrick Odom and Kathy Drinks-Odom of Huntingtown, MD; and daughter-in-law to Jimmy and Julie Wilkins of Tallulah, LA. She was the oldest sibling to Cara Barger (Nick), Joseph Fox, Caleb Fox, Gabrielle Fox, and Tori McDowell (Marcus).
Amanda attended Mt. Harmony Elementary, Calvert Middle, and graduated from Calvert High School in May, 2003 . She went on to receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV, where she became a member of the Delta Zeta Sorority. Amanda was born to be a nurse and serve the needs of her patients. She loved taking care of others, and her warm and caring spirit touched the lives of thousands of patients at Georgetown University Hospital, Holy Cross Hospital, Anne Arundel Medical Center, and the Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base.
Following her graduation from college, Amanda met and fell in love with Master Sgt. Jeremy Wilkins of the United States Air Force. They were married on June 11, 2010, and welcomed the greatest joy of their lives, Madison Shay Wilkins, who was born on March 9, 2011. Amanda was a phenomenal mother who chaperoned countless field trips, Girl Scout events, school functions, and community events. Amanda and Jeremy exemplified the military family life serving their community with honor and grace, humbly accepting every change of duty station and overseas deployment. She became lifelong friends with so many military spouses in their travels at Bolling Air Force Base, Tyndall Air Force Base, and Andrews Air Force Base. She honored the role of being from a Law Enforcement family, passionately supporting the Calvert County Sheriff’s Department and Maryland State Police. Amanda lit up a room with her infectious smile, beautiful blue eyes and compassionate heart. She cherished each friendship regardless if it was someone she just met or a lifelong friend. She was sentimental and an open book, documenting her life story through photos and her feelings about life, love, and loss.
Amanda was a hero and champion for fellow cancer warriors and survivors, until the day she took her last breath. She actively reached out to others who were living with cancer to offer a listening ear, words of encouragement, or a simple “I’m sorry you are going through this”. Amanda was adamant that no one, including herself, ever loses a battle against cancer. She was victorious in facing what she had no choice but to endure with courage, bravery, and faith.
Amanda is survived by her devoted spouse Jeremy, daughter Madison Shay, parents Rona Hays, Patrick and Kathy Odom; in-laws Jimmy and Julie Wilkins, siblings Cara, Joe, Caleb, Gabby, and Tori; aunts and uncles Alana and Brent VanHorn, Erica and Jerrell Carr, Beverly and Mark Davis, Jeffrey Odom and Suzanne Hook, and Charles Odom; nieces and nephew Mya and Morgan Barger, and Naveah McDowell; great-nieces Adrianna and Ziva Carr; and a huge host of extended family, friends, and their loyal family dog “Peaches”.
Memorial contributions may be made to Amanda’s GoFundMe to purchase books for children facing the loss of a parent and will be gifted to the Anne Arundel Medical Center DeCasaris Cancer Institute in her memory.
Ways to Give
Donate to Jeremy and Madi on GoFundMe:
Donate to Anne Arundel Medical Center:
Please direct your gift to Geaton And JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute.
Donate to metastatic breast cancer research:
Important Message from Amanda
A Note from Facebook on May 27
Hi friends and family I know a lot ask what you can do and I normally just ask for prayers, helping with Madi and meals at times but I really want to help other families that are diagnosed young and have kids. Both of these books have helped Madi and I so very much. I would like to collect as many books as I can and bring them to Anne Arundel medical center to the child life specialist as well as the social workers at the infusion center and palliative care. I will be purchasing some on my own but would love to give as many as I can if you are interested please let me know and you can mail them to my house or drop off They both can be found on amazon thank you so very much As I’m still at the hospital which let me tell you I have had amazing care by the nurses, techs, doctors, chaplain and child life specialist all I can think of is my sweet girl and what we have been through and what has helped us. I hope these books will help other families newly diagnosed, actively going through treatment or starting that stage 4 journey.
01.
Nowhere Hair: Explains Your Cancer and Chemo To Kids
The little girl in NOWHERE HAIR knows two things: Her mom’s hair is not on her head anymore, so therefore it must be somewhere around the house.
02.
Cancer Hates Kisses
Mothers are superheroes when they’re battling cancer, and this empowering picture book gives them an honest yet spirited way to share the difficult experience with their kids.
03.
The Goodbye Cancer Garden
After Mom and Dad tell Janie and Jeffrey that Mom has Cancer, the whole family goes to the doctor to ask questions. “Is Mom better yet?” Jeffrey asked. “Not yet,” she said. “But we’re working very hard to make her better-probably by pumpkin time.”
Click the button below to donate. Our goal is to collect as many sets of Amanda’s 3 favorite books as we can to help other families that are diagnosed young and have kids. We want to provide books locally first and expand our reach, but we need to restock our supply! The set costs $50. You can also purchase the above books on Amazon and ship to:
demandacure
Po box 1825
Prince Frederick MD 20678