Amanda Diane Frahm, 39, died Thursday, February 19, 2026, following a two-and-a-half-year battle with lung cancer. She is survived by her husband, Tom Dunlop, and her five-year-old twin daughters, Lucy and Etta. She passed peacefully at home.

Amanda was born to Dan and Kay Frahm on April 27, 1986, in Rock Island, Illinois. The middle child and only daughter, she earned the nickname “Squeaks” from her older brother, John, and her younger brother, Mike, based on her insistence on speaking up for herself.

Amanda grew up in Bettendorf, Iowa, enjoying a wonderful childhood that she appreciated every day as an adult. She had close friends and doting parents who encouraged her to pursue education, sports, and activities that would help shape her relationships and outlook.

During high school, she formed one of her many close social bonds with several friends who self-branded as the “Cheeses.” Amanda and the Cheeses remained in contact throughout her life, and she placed tremendous value on their friendship.

Amanda attended Marquette University, studying Communications. Alongside her diploma, she was fortunate to collect another lifelong friend: Beth Gallagher, whose description of how they met fits Amanda’s personality perfectly. Amanda walked into Beth’s dorm room during the first week of school, sat on her bed, and said, “I’m bored.”

Amanda’s family is especially grateful to Beth. Following college, Beth became a nurse practitioner. In the final months of Amanda’s life, Beth devoted a tremendous amount of her time and resources to assisting Amanda, including — but certainly not limited to — agreeing to serve as her hospice nurse. Without Beth’s commitment, we might never have been able to bring Amanda home.

One of Amanda’s most formative experiences came after college when she joined Teach For America. For the following three years, she taught English at Waialua Intermediate School on the North Shore of Oahu. Her time there not only demonstrated her devotion to public service, but also brought her deeply meaningful friendships with her colleagues.

When not teaching, Amanda’s time in Hawaii was spent dodging cane spiders and chicken eggs laid in shoes at the Jungle House. She loved exploring the islands with her friends — visiting beaches, hiking, adventuring, and most of all, swimming. Despite not learning to dive off a platform until her mid-30s, Amanda loved to swim more than anyone loves to do anything.

Amanda left Hawaii to pursue law school. This obituary writer is very pleased to report that despite receiving admissions offers and scholarships from many highly ranked law schools, she chose to attend the University of Denver, where she met her future husband, Tom. Reports differ on the exact day we met, but narratives align when it comes to how inseparable we were from that point forward.

Amanda again chose public service following law school, serving as a Deputy District Attorney for Colorado’s First Judicial District in Golden. She later moved to the Denver District Attorney’s Office, where she and Tom were fortunate enough to work together, sharing many rides to and from work in cutthroat Denver traffic.

In June of 2020, during the height of COVID, Amanda and Tom welcomed their twin daughters, Lucy (“Goose”) and Etta (“Etters”). From then until her last day, Amanda often spoke about how she “just loves [her] little buddies” and how she couldn’t imagine her life without them.

Within one week in July of 2023, we moved houses, said goodbye to our sweet Mastiff, Lenore, and learned that Amanda had stage IV lung cancer. Just two weeks earlier, she had completed a sprint triathlon and was entirely symptom-free. From that moment forward, Amanda’s priority was — and always remained — the well-being of Lucy and Etta during what she knew would be a difficult and traumatic experience for them first, and for her second.

Amanda’s initial prognosis was six to twelve months. With treatment from the University of Colorado and Dr. Tejas Patil, the clock on Amanda’s cancer was pushed back, and she gratefully shifted her focus to living a deliberate and full life in whatever time she had left. During that period, she visited friends she had lost touch with, went on once-in-a-lifetime raft trips, took her daughters to some of her favorite beaches, worked full-time, and endured more pain and discomfort than I would ever wish on anyone. She did it with grit and determination that surprised even herself, and she did it above all for the people she loved.

Despite heart surgery and multiple rounds and types of chemotherapy, Amanda lived for two and a half years relatively symptom-free. She traveled to her family’s home in Minnesota for Christmas 2025, sensing that the cancer had progressed but still able to participate in most activities. However, as 2026 began, she became very ill and spent several weeks in the hospital.

Ultimately, Amanda was placed on a ventilator for several days. When she was taken off, doctors believed it was unlikely she would leave the hospital again. Amanda’s family and supporters rallied alongside her medical team to create a window that would allow her to return home. We are profoundly grateful that she was able to spend her final two weeks here. During that time, she demonstrated significant initial improvement, allowing friends and family to visit with her in relative comfort and experience her magnetic personality once more. It was not until the final 24 hours, when her oxygen needs exceeded what could be delivered, that she slipped away peacefully at night, sleeping next to Tom.