Storke Funeral Home Obituaries

Colonel Tara R. Lunardi (née Honaker), Special Agent and Deputy Commander of the Department of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), passed peacefully on February 7, 2024, in the company of her beloved husband following a valiant battle with cancer. A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Leo High School graduate, Colonel Lunardi served her country honorably and with great distinction, beginning with her commissioning as a distinguished graduate of the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Indiana University in 1997.

During nearly three decades as an Air Force officer and an OSI special agent, Colonel Lunardi commanded field elements at Aviano Air Base, Italy, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, and Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. She also held a combat command during Operation Iraqi Freedom in Irbil, Iraq. Colonel Lunardi stepped into the executive leadership ranks of OSI as the Vice Commander of the 7^th Field Investigations (FIR) at Joint Base Andrews, and later commanded the 2^d FIR, headquartered at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. In this latter position she directly supported Air Combat Command elements worldwide and led hundreds of Airmen working in the continental United States, as well as in Central and South America and the Middle East.

Outside of OSI, Colonel Lunardi served as the senior executive officer to the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force, the Deputy Director of security and counterintelligence for the White House Military Office, and Deputy Department Chair and Assistant Professor at the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy. At the time of her passing, she was a key member of the OSI leadership team helping oversee and develop the Department of the Air Force’s premier federal law enforcement and counterintelligence agency. In her career, Colonel Lunardi received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, multiple instances of the Defense and Air Force Meritorious Service Medals, and the Operation Iraqi Freedom Campaign Medal. She also received the 2017 Commandant’s Award from Air War College and was a multiple-time OSI Lance P. Sijan Leadership Award winner.

Colonel Lunardi embodied the ideals of servant leadership in action, humility in command, and unmatched passion for the well-being and growth of others. Hers was a presence at once calming and challenging, conveying confidence in the ability of others to excel when encouraged and enabled to do so. Colonel Lunardi’s sense of purpose was incandescent and could, and did, rekindle the fire of professional pride in those she led and mentored. Her energy and drive moved the world around her in profound ways. She was fierce in the face of adversity, but gentle to those who had suffered it. There was no greater friend, and no more tireless fighter, to have by one’s side. Colonel Lunardi remains a genuine hero, a selfless warrior even in the face of her agonizing battle with cancer in the last years of her life. She lives on in every one of those countless individuals who were made better leaders, and indeed people, simply through having known her.

Tara is survived by her devoted husband, Mark Lunardi, as well as by her “bonus” children Andrew (Kelly) Lunardi and Nick Lunardi and granddaughter Audrey Lunardi; Tara’s mother, Kathleen “Ma” Unger, and her husband, Pat; her brother, Todd (Jayme) Honaker; her step-sisters Dusty (Tim) Calhoun and Jennifer (Kenneth) Sumler; her dearest friends and brothers-in-love, Charles Smith and Christopher Parker; and her constant furry companion, Winnie. She was preceded in her final journey by her dear father, James Honaker, a proud U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam combat veteran whose wife, Angie, also survives Tara.

To these family and beloved friends, Tara was an unmatched wonder who brought love and laughter into so many cherished moments, making her memory a true blessing. A wine aficionado – though never a snob – she savored life like the fine reds from Napa that were never wanting in her home. She found joy in the simple pleasure of sharing a good bottle, and a meal to match, with friends and family. Tara was also a consummate traveler, having climbed Mount Fuji, hiked Machu Pichu, and visited the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, and countless other wonders. She marveled at the beauty of the world around her and never missed an opportunity to immerse herself in it.

Colonel Tara Lunardi was 48 but lived two lifetimes in too short a life. Her legacy will be felt in her family, in OSI and in the Air Force through the impact and memories she gifted to so many. She will forever live on in the hearts of those who loved, and served with, her and most especially those who have the privilege to call her wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, and colleague.

A celebration of life, military honors and inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery will be scheduled at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Tara’s honor to a charity of one’s choice or one of the following organizations: KRAS Cancer Kickers (http://www.kraskickers.org/); the Colorectal Cancer Alliance (https://colorectalcancer.org/); or Capital Caring (https://www.capitalcaring.org/get-involved/donate/).