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Xenia marching band honors late ‘uniform mom’

UPDATE @ 7:18 p.m. May 17:

The extended Xenia High School Marching Band family came together this afternoon to remember a “uniform mom” killed earlier this year in a tragic accident.

Tammy Erbaugh, 39, died after she was struck and pinned by her sport-utility vehicle outside her workplace Jan. 30 at Xenia Self Storage on Bellbrook Avenue.

Erbaugh sort of became everyone’s mom as she took care of the uniforms and the band students who wore them. That’s why they chose to honor her by planting a tree in her memory outside Xenia High School.

“It was just very shocking and she and I worked very closely together so I’ve lost my sidekick, and my partner. She was just a big asset,” said fellow uniform mom Cindy McCoy of Xenia.

McCoy recalls Erbaugh, a mother of two, as generous, with a silly side.

“It’s been very difficult because it’s really hard to know how to honor her,” she said.

But working together with Erbaugh’s family, they came up with a fitting way to remember the woman who gave her all to her alma mater.

“We thought that as the tree got bigger, the band kids could sit under it and there will be a plaque there for her and just kind of, she would always just be a part of the band,” McCoy said.

Along with members of Erbaugh’s family, the community came together to honor their band mom.

“If she was here today, she would really appreciate us doing all this for her,” said senior Adam McCoy. ‘I think it’s just the best way for all of us to honor her as one. … it makes me feel happy that we’re all doing this and she would really like it.”

UPDATE @ 10:19 a.m. (Feb. 2)

Xenia police today are calling a fatal crash Friday at a self-storage facility an accident.

They said it appears the victim, Tammy Erbaugh, failed to put her SUV in park, and that she was pinned when the vehicle started to roll. She died at the scene.

It happened around 6:30 p.m. Friday at Xenia Self Storage, 1855 Bellbrook Ave., where Erbaugh, 39, was employed as an office manager.

The 1994 Xenia High School graduate was a volunteer for the past seven years with the high school marching band, and was known as a “uniform mom,” according to her obituary posted by the McColaugh Funeral Home in Xenia.

She is survived by her husband, James Erbaugh III and their children, James IV and Makayla Erbaugh; her mother Rhea Stallings; and brother Dennis Marshall, all of Xenia.

Visitation is 6 p.m. Friday at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 990 Old Springfield Pike, Xenia, followed by a celebration of life service at 7:30 p.m. at the church. The family suggests donations to help purchase new uniforms for the Xenia High School Marching Band: Greene Giving c/o Xenia Band Boosters, P.O. Box 268, Xenia, OH 45385.

UPDATE @ 10:28 p.m. (Jan. 30)

A fatal crash remains under investigation, but no foul play is believed, according to a news release tonight from the Xenia Police Division.

Police were called to 1855 Bellbrook Ave., the location of Xenia Self Storage, at 6:30 p.m. for a single-car accident.

Police tonight refused to release further information, such as the victim’s name, age or gender.

FIRST REPORT, (Jan. 30)

Crews are on scene of a serious accident tonight at a self storage business.

A sport-utility vehicle reportedly went through a fence around 6:30 p.m. and struck a storage building at Xenia Self Storage, 1855 Bellbrook Ave., trapping a person underneath the SUV.

We are on the way and will update this report as we learn details.

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