Celebrating Pride Month: Honoring Tami's Legacy
In this second installment celebrating pride month, we hear from Mark Gorodetzer, father of Tami Gorodetzer, to honor his daughter, and former RADrabbit, who passed away last year.
Tami Gorodetzer was an LGBTQ runner, and RADrabbit, from Chicago. She’s been described as a “larger-than-life force”, a “champion of true change”, a “real advocate for people”, an “exuberant cheerleader”, and a “force for good.” As an employee at Allstate, she was the PRIDE Vice President and then President, helping to ensure that PRIDE members of the Allstate team felt heard, respected, and welcomed. She was a presenter at Out & Equal, an event organized annually to promote LGBTQ workplace equality. And she worked closely with Brave Space Alliance, a Chicago-based organization assisting LGBTQ members with much-needed resources and services, and an organization that rabbit and other companies have made donations to in honor of Tami.
Tragically, Tami passed away last year due to complications from Covid.
Her father, Mark, remembers Tami as a staunch facilitator, a passionate advocate, and a fun-loving personality that worked well with people–a “five-foot, one hundred pound ball of energy.”
“Fortunately, from a young age, Tami knew how to network. Not only that, but she knew how to be an advocate. Between Allstate and Out & Equal, we learned that she had some pretty good mentors around here because she learned very quickly. She learned when to cut her losses and instead focus on what she does have control over–being a voice for people who didn’t have a voice or who weren’t loud enough.”
As a runner, Tami twice completed the Chicago Marathon. She was a pacer and teammate for Chicago Endurance Sports, an organization that recognized Tami with a tribute at the 2022 Chicago Spring Half Marathon & 10k. And she was a RADrabbit team member for five years–something her parents knew nothing about. “We knew nothing about rabbit until we started going through Tami’s apartment. Literally, rabbit multiplied in her apartment. It was obviously a big part of her life.”
Mark and his wife, who have lived in Henderson, Nevada since 2011, flew back to Chicago after the tragic news of Tami’s passing last May. They held a celebration of life for Tami at a friend’s house. Mark expected a dozen or so friends to show up. Between members of Chicago Endurance Sports, Allstate–including three Vice Presidents from the corporate office–and friends, over sixty people attended.
“We thought: ‘Who is this child?’ We had no idea the impact she had on so many people. Fortunately, the weather held and they had a big backyard.”
Tami’s impact reached much farther than the city of Chicago, too. A hashtag, #10forTami, was started last June, the month of her birthday. The idea was to dedicate ten minutes, or 10 kilometers, or 10 miles, in honor of Tami. The scope of involvement was far reaching.
“My daughter kept calling and texting me about the hashtag. I said, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about’ [laughs]. Finally, later in the day I [checked it out]. There were people in Alaska, Finland, Germany–all over the world people were using the hashtag.”
Known as “the girl who ran in flannel,” Mark sees the outpouring of support for Tami as a clear indication that she was a good judge of character, someone who knew who to work with and how to usher in positive changes, and someone who “did the right things for the right reasons.”
Mark and his wife hope to continue Tami’s legacy. They plan to continue to work with the organizations that Tami supported, to positively impact people’s lives, and, perhaps as early as next year, start a race in Tami’s honor.
“It continues to amaze us, all of the things she did. We have continued to learn about people’s lives that she impacted.”
