Tiffany Marie (Hoover) Karlik

Tiffany Marie Karlik, age 43, passed away Monday, April 22, 2024, with her beloved husband and older sister and one of her dearest friends by her side. Tiff had infinite love for everyone but her two small children were paramount. It meant everything to her to love her children unconditionally, whether it was ensuring they had deep relationships with their extended family and her dear friends, planning meticulously themed birthday parties to bring them joy or spending happy hours as a family watching Bluey and Kids Baking Championship.

She also was the rock who held everyone together in her extended family and in her group of friends. The key to being the glue to so many people was not only her love but her goofy, spunky personality, her vivacity and vibrancy, her silly sense of humor, her wit and her never-ending compassion. With one lift of her famous Tiff eyebrow, she would tell you exactly what she thought without saying a word. Because of her open heart, she had an ever expanding circle of friends throughout her life. 

Tiff’s love for her children fueled her will for a difficult two-year battle with metastatic breast cancer that failed to respond long to any form of treatment. She kept her vow to her husband to tackle things head on together during those difficult days. She made sure to savor every day that she had, especially with her children. She exhausted every chemotherapy known. Tiff was one of the first patients to undergo presurgical radiation. She took trial drugs off-trial to give herself a chance to beat cancer. Despite all these difficulties, she fought hard every day just to have one more day for her family.

Tiff was extraordinary in that she had both emotional intelligence and scientific brilliance. She brought both her heart and her intellect to bear when her daughter was born with a heart defect that required surgery as a young child. She used her scientific acumen to read and understand the scientific literature about her daughter’s heart defect and her breast cancer, and she would draw diagrams of her daughter’s heart condition. She was an organ donor and wanted her body to benefit scientific research. She had incredible intellectual curiosity and loved to be able to solve hard problems.

Tiff graduated as valedictorian of John Marshall High School in Rochester in 1999. 

She earned a full scholarship to Rochester Institute of Technology from which she graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in microelectronic engineering in 2005. Among other companies at which she worked as a microelectronic engineer were Qimonda in Virginia and Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center in Canandaigua, which later was sold to Akoustis Technologies.

Most recently, she was a process engineer at NexGen Power Systems in East Syracuse. She was their first employee hired in New York State and key to procuring and developing an essential machine in their processing. At NextGen, she became a senior principal process engineer in April 2022. 

It was important to her to mentor the next generation of young professionals in the STEM career field, whether it was relatives, students participating in the FIRST robotics program at Hanover

High School in Virginia, or students doing their coop education in her workplaces. It was yet another example of her infinite love.

Tiff is survived by her adoring children and husband, as well as a large extended family and many devoted friends. A celebration of life service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Strong Memorial Hospital’s Division of Pediatric Cardiology in honor of Tiffany’s daughter; Upstate University Hospital’s Cancer Center in honor of Tiffany; or Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in honor of Tiffany. If you are so inclined, remember Tiff by helping fund research about this cancer that couldn’t be cured or funding heart research to help children like her beloved daughter.

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