The Honorable Tanya A. Gee was born July 15, 1977, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to parents Don and Angel Gee. She received her B.A. in Sociology from Winthrop University in 1999, Magna Cum Laude, with a minor in professional writing. She received the Trustee’s Scholarship and Forester’s Scholarship.
In 2002, she received her J.D., Cum Laude, from the University of South Carolina School of Law. She was a member of the Order of Wig and Robe and was the associate student works editor for the South Carolina Law Review. While in law school, she served as president of the Pro Bono Board and the Public Interest Law Society and earned the Hoefer Toal Scholarship, the Justice Ness Scholarship and the Susan McCrary Scholarship.
Upon graduation, she was awarded the Bronze Compleat Lawyer Award, the most prestigious award chosen by the law school and administration; the Claude Sapp Award, chosen by her classmates; the Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award; and the Pro Bono Outstanding Service Award.
She served in various roles at the SC Court of Appeals. She served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Kaye G. Hearn, chief staff attorney, and as clerk of court. In 2012, she took a position with Nexsen Pruet, LLC, where she focused on business litigation and appellate work. In 2015, she was elected to a seat on the SC Circuit Court.
She was a member of the SC Bar and the Richland County Bar Association. She served as the event chair for Richland County for the Young Lawyers Division Book Drive and Kids’ ID Project. She was a volunteer for the Richland County Guardian Ad Litem program and Logan Elementary School. She was a Winthrop writing tutor and an all-purpose tutor for Pilgrim’s Inn, the local homeless shelter.
She was an inaugural class recipient of the 2009 Leaders in the Law Award presented by South Carolina Lawyers Weekly; was selected one of The State newspaper’s 2010 “20 Under 40” class of young professionals and was a member of the Liberty Fellowship Class of 2012. She was also a member of Ebenezer Lutheran Church.
The Honorable Tanya A. Gee died on September 28, 2016. She is survived by her husband, Christopher Koon; her children, William Koon and Sabin Koon; her parents, Don and Angel Gee; a sister, Bettina Kness; a niece, Nicole Kness; and nephews, Garrett Kness and Cody Kness.