3.20.2003
Tracey Romanoff, 33; a strong, independent spirit
Family members laugh about the little mischief Tracey Romanoff, 33, of
Coventry, used to get into as a kid.
When she was still in diapers, she would crawl up on a chair and open
the front door when her parents weren't looking. Once, she escaped and
the police found her walking down her street. Her parents took to putting
a crab shell on the door latch to scare her away from breaking out.
"She was a hell-raiser," says her father, Terry Romanoff, laughing.
"You name it, she did it."
It was just that independent spirit that Tracey's family loved about
her.
She was a good mom, they say, who loved getting tan at the beach, sitting
in her Jacuzzi, partying, playing softball, and music -- the louder the
better.
Tracey had two children, Joshua, 10, and Lindsey, 8, both students at
Washington Oak Elementary School, where she was a teacher's assistant.
She also worked in the Coventry office of H & R Block.
Last summer, she married Daniel
Frederickson, 37, a career non-commissioned officer in the Navy stationed
at the submarine base in Groton, Conn.
Tracey was a member of the Coventry Girls' Softball All-Stars team that
finished ninth in the 1985 national tournament for the 13- to 15-year-olds
division. A shortstop and a second baseman while she was at Coventry High
School, she was named to the All-State team.
She continued to play in a local women's softball league in which she
developed a tight circle of friends, including her best friend, Chris
Van Leuven, according to her sister Lori Romanoff.
Tracey was the oldest of Susan and Terry Romanoff's three girls. Lori
Romanoff and Wendi McDonald live in Florida, but they say the distance
didn't keep them from being close to their older sis.
"She was a free spirit," Wendi McDonald said.
"She was independent and very strong," Lori Romanoff said.
"She loved that she owned her own home and did it by herself."
Tracey and her husband planned to move to his home state, Washington,
this year. Dan wanted to build them a log home.
-- Meaghan Wims
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