Megan Lynette Poulos (nee Card) lived a too-short life filled with an abundance of love.

From the moment she was born, the baby girl her mother prayed for, to her last moments surrounded by the family she created, Megan knew what it meant to be cherished.

“She came out shopping,” her father, Phil, remembers - 7 pounds, 11 ounces, born at Balboa Hospital in San Diego on the afternoon of January 9th, 1985. The fourth of four kids after Bryan, Benjamin and Russell, her mom, Maureen, doted on her.

The Card family moved to Yokosuka, Japan, when Megan was just 4. All the kids modeled for catalogues and advertisements, and Maureen and Megan even filmed at least one commercial together. Megan inherited the McCurdy talent for singing, and Maureen helped her develop her voice, coaching her, working on hymns together, and musical pieces for church and school. It was always a treat for the congregation when Megan and Maureen stood to sing. And even back then, Megan showed signs of the strong will she’d draw on throughout her life.

As a tween, Megan and the family moved back to the states, landing in Annapolis, Maryland in 1997. Their arrival created quite a stir among the kids in their new Ward - three boys and Megan, the pixie of the bunch. That’s where she made some of her very best friends, who stuck with her for the rest of her life, Robyn and Tracy. And at just 13, she briefly met the man who’d become her husband, though of course, neither of them knew that yet.

Years later, Megan walked into Fletcher’s in Baltimore and blew Johnny’s mind - he was enamored from the moment he spotted her across the club. They had just one date, and Johnny declared he’d met the woman he’d marry. Megan, on the other hand, friend zoned him for a while. But Johnny was undeterred and ultimately got that second date. From then on, they were inseparable.

Megan and Johnny married in Annapolis in August 2009 at the U.S. Naval Academy. The whole room seemed to rotate around the beautiful bride, so excited to marry her man that she shimmied in her shoes, vibrating with joy. Dad Phil officiated, and Maureen, gorgeous in a floor-length red dress, glowed with pride and happiness. Megan and Johnny were so caught up in the magic of the day and their love that after a quick moment away from the party, they walked back in to “Earth Angel” and opted to do their first dance then and there. The doo-wop classic became their song.

Over the six months that followed that incredible day, however, Megan would need to draw deeply on everything she had, as she cared for her mom in the waning days of her battle with kidney cancer. The two had always had their own special connection, sassy and sweet, and losing Maureen was a profound experience Megan carried with her for the rest of her own life.

Fortunately, there were blessings on the way for Megan - Liam, born in January of 2011, followed by Damon in February 2013. She freaked out a little when she saw that first positive test, but Johnny reassured her - “We both want kids, we’re married, we got this.” And they did.

Liam’s birth marked the beginning of Megan’s most fulfilling calling, motherhood. She was an awesome, natural mom who always seemed at ease around kids, and unbothered by little things that didn’t merit worry. She was the boss, making sure everyone pulled their weight around the house, but she was also the heart. She decorated every inch of her home with mementos and trinkets that represented all four family members’ passions and interests. She welcomed Johnny home each night with, “Daddy’s home!” and watched cooking shows with Damon, gathering inspiration for dinners they’d make together. She and Liam laughed watching Nailed It!, and the whole family dressed up for Halloween, the Renaissance Festival and Comic Con in costumes she spearheaded. No one could thrift like Megan, and her talent for putting together outfits - from Ghostbusters to witches to her everyday looks - was elite.

That said, if you messed with her people, the claws came out. She did not hesitate to advocate for Damon when he needed help with a conflict at school. And she could be strict at home when it was called for, letting Liam know he’d messed up when he missed curfew, laying down the law when the boys’ bickering crossed the line.

Megan’s ease with kids extended to her nieces and nephews, whom she also loved fiercely. At family gatherings she’d wrap her arms around the kids and roll around, cast fishing lines and referee squabbles. Like her mom, she was especially excited when a girl was born to the family - Russell and Monica’s Meredith. She loved having Meredith over for sleepovers along with her brother, Evan.

Megan also welcomed the kids in her Londontowne neighborhood into the fold and befriended their parents. During Covid, she made two friends there who would turn out to be two of the most solid, loving, dependable women she’d ever know, Rae and Jennell. After Megan’s cancer diagnosis in the summer of 2024, they went to every appointment Johnny couldn’t attend and checked in on her when she went a little too long without texting.

In addition to the support she felt from friends and family, Megan took comfort in her evolving spiritual practice. She defined her beliefs as Wiccan, and enjoyed researching natural remedies, pulling tarot cards, and simmering herbs. Black cats, moon phases, and crystals - many from her nomadic friend, Ace - decorated her home and enriched her connection to the natural world.

Megan loved spending time outside, particularly in forests and mountains. Recent trips to Luray, Virginia were especially meaningful, when Megan and Johnny spent lots of time in the hot tub by the river, and staring overhead at the Milky Way from their bed.

Megan left the world the way she entered it, on April 24, 2026 - cherished, and surrounded by love.

Megan Lynette Poulos is survived by her family, Johnny, Liam and Damon; her father, Phillip (Patsy); her brother Bryan and his children, Lane and Grant; her brother Ben (Sarah) and their child Margalo; and her brother Russell (Monica) and their children Evan and Meredith.

She is preceded in death by her mom, Maureen, and her sister-in-law, Darah.

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