Audrey C. Strahan

AUDREY CAROLE STRAHAN passed away at the age of 92, on February 9th, 2026 in Ocala, FL, after a long battle with cancer. Audrey was born on November 13th, 1933 in Hershey, PA to her late parents Andrew Curtis Tracy and Helen Lonkle.

She grew up in Bradford, PA where her parents moved early in her life. After graduation from Trenton State College in NJ with a Master’s degree, she met her current husband in the summer of 1972 and she and David Strahan were married on June 29th, 1974 and remained married for 52 years. They moved to Riverside California where Audrey continued her career at the California School for the Deaf. She was a classroom teacher in Special Education for a number of years, served as a curriculum specialist and High School Principal. In 1985, she became the Director of Special Education for 16 school districts in the high desert of San Bernardino County in Southern California.

After her retirement in 1999, she volunteered as a mediator in the small claims courts of the Riverside county courts system. After the move to Dunnellon Florida in 2002, Audrey worked as a volunteer at Rainbow Springs State Park for many years amassing more than 1 million hours of volunteer time. She later managed the gift shop for several years. She volunteered in the Rainbow Springs POA office for 2 years, then ran for and won office as a Director on the Rainbow Springs Property Owners Association board. During those 4 years, she co-chaired a committee responsible for the contract creating the Rainbow Springs Community Center. All through her life she loved to cook and do various craft projects and she excelled at everything she cooked or created.

She was truly an extraordinary woman. Audrey is preceded in death by her ex-husband Deane Merry.

She is survived by her daughters, Carole Merry of Dunnellon, FL, Diane Volentine and husband John of Berkeley Springs, West, VA; her brother Donald Tracy and his wife Gretchen of Salisbury, NC; her grandchildren, Christopher Potts and Tyler Volentine and her great-grandson, Trenton Potts.

Audrey will be cremated with a private interment held at a later time in upstate NY.