Vivian Tan, 53, worked with children

Vivian Tan was a clarinet player for what is now the Singapore National Youth Orchestra. She earned a bachelor's degree from the Royal College of Music in London.

From 1982 to 1984, Ms. Tan studied clarinet at the former Philadelphia College of Performing Arts.

But, said her friend Brenda Hallahan, Ms. Tan gave up her musical career because "she just saw the needs of the children in the inner city in Philadelphia, and just developed a love and a passion for the children."

On Sunday, April 5, Ms. Tan, 53, of Mickleton, founder of the children's program in Haddon Heights known as Kids Alley, died of complications from cancer at CareOne at Evesham, an assisted living center in Marlton.

From 1986 to 1990, Hallahan said, Ms. Tan was associate pastor at the New Life Church of Philadelphia, and from 1991 through 1998 was pastor and director of children's ministries at the Living Waters Church in Sewell.

In 1998 in North Camden, Ms. Tan founded One Accord Inc., which runs its Kids Alley programs in space leased at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Haddon Heights.

Hallahan, executive coordinator at Kids Alley, said its after-school program provides 40 youngsters from Camden with tutoring and homework assistance, and offers 70 of them on Saturdays "faith-based educational enrichment."

The program also runs a summer day camp, she said.

Debra Whitehead, whose three children have been involved with Kids Alley for more than a decade, said Ms. Tan "loved the kids in Camden.

"She was loving," Whitehead said. "She was kind. She was gentle. She was understanding. A powerful person."

Whitehead's daughter, Quanasia, 21, said that she had been an after-school student with the program from ages 2 to 16. She then became a tutor for the Saturday classes.

Ms. Tan "was like a second mom to me. She was very spiritual," she said.

In 1998, Ms. Tan earned an award from the New Jersey Child Assault Prevention program sponsored by the state Department of Children and Families, Hallahan said.

In 2001, she earned the Mary Cudemo literacy award of the West Jersey Reading Council, which promotes literacy in Burlington and Camden Counties. In 2002, Camden County awarded her its Martin Luther King Freedom Medal, Hallahan said.

 There are no known survivors.

A memorial service was set for 2 p.m. Saturday, April 25, at St. John's United Methodist Church, 149 Ganttown Rd., Turnersville.

Donations may be sent to One Accord Inc., 283B Egg Harbor Rd., Sewell, N.J. 08080.

Condolences may be offered at www.egizifuneralhome.com.