Tara L. Townsend, 36, of Lancaster died suddenly at Lancaster General Hospital.

Born in Reading, she was the daughter of the late Gary and Mary Mieczkowski. She was the loving wife of Jason Townsend. They celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary this past January.

Tara was a nurse supervisor at Twin Rose Healthcare in Columbia. She found great pride in helping her peers and patients. She was currently pursuing her bachelor's degree in Nursing.

Friendships were important to Tara and boy did she have a lot of friends. Friends from childhood, school, work, Jason's friends that became her own, and strangers that quickly became friends- Tara loved you all!

Tara loved children, her greatest hope was to someday become a mother- she had the opportunity to be a foster parent this past year and it was one of the happiest moments of her life. Loving that little boy gave her a new purpose and she flourished in that role.

Tara was known to many as Aunt Tara, not only to her nephews, Mason and James, and nieces, Emma and Caroline, but to her friends' children as well.

She will be lovingly missed by her brother and sister in law Justin and Kelly Townsend, her mother in law, Trudy Townsend, father in law, Thomas Townsend and his wife Wanda, her brother Chad, and a large extended family.

A viewing will be held on Sunday, July 14, from 7-9 PM at the Charles F Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory, 3110 Lititz Pike.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to COBYS, 1417 Oregon Rd, Leola, PA 17540 ATTN: Anne Stokes