Very first Make-A-Wish recipient remembered

FRANKLIN (WITI) -- Today in Franklin, friends and family remembered a very special person. In August, 41-year-old Tina Scharf was struck and killed by a vehicle while riding her adaptive bike. She was the very first person to receive a gift from Wisconsin Make-A-Wish.

Forrest Doolen is lucky enough to have his own memories with Tina Scharf. He's the PR Manager for Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, and got to know her this past year.

"This was really a heartbreaking thing when we found out that she had past away, but we also celebrate her many years," said Doolen.

Scharf suffered from a brain tumor and in 1984 as a young girl, she became the first recipient of a gift from Wisconsin Make-A-Wish. Tina was flown to meet Michael Jackson at a concert in New Jersey -- but that was just one moment in her life.

"We've got pictures she's drawn, stories that she's written, there is just a whole gamut of things so people can get to know what Tina was like for her whole life," said Tina's mother, Sherry Foley.

Family drove in from around the state, local police and firefighters stopped in during their shift. Tina was well-known in Franklin, riding her bike was her trademark.

"They gave her a year when she was 11, and she lived to be 41, so it kept her here for a long longer," said Lucina Udulutch, Tina's sister.

"A lot of people when they think of Make-A-Wish, they have that misperception that children don't live very long, and for us Tina was a perfect example of really what a wish child is about," said Doolen.

Tina Scharf will be missed in Franklin. After three weeks, people are still having a hard time picturing their lives without her.

Catina Scharf was a guest of honor when Wisconsin Make-A-Wish celebrated 30 years, this past July.