December 15, 2005

Dayna Smalley - 1960 — 2005

Los Alamitos teacher will be missed

Known for her photography, sense of humor

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

By the time my son finished kindergarten five years ago, he and his classmates had written and illustrated 26 books.

In 2000, Dayna Smalley led her first kindergarten glass at Los Alamitos in their first music recital.

It seems only fitting to return the favor in memory of kindergarten teacher, Dayna Smalley, 44, who died at Mills Peninsula Hospital on Dec. 1, after a 27-month battle with a rare intestinal cancer. In her memory, Los Alamitos Elementary is accepting books to the school library and donations to the school’s Library Fund.

It’s what she would have wanted.

Born in Inglewood, Calif., Dayna attended school in Livermore until seventh grade, when her family moved to Arizona. She had initially majored in journalism and interned with PHX-TV before shifting gears to pursue a career in teaching. She graduated with a MA from Northern Arizona State University in Flagstaff, Ariz., and then taught at schools in Mohave Valley, Ariz., El Paso, Texas and West Germany for the Department of Defense.

An avid runner, Dayna ran in the Munich marathon twice during her three-and-a-half year stay in Germany. Her last known marathon in 1997 was closer to home, having run for the Santa Cruz Track Club in the Santa Cruz Turkey Trot 10K. She crossed the finish line with a time of 1:03:36.

Dayna moved to San Jose seven years ago and taught kindergarten at Los Alamitos until her diagnosis with pseudomyxoma peritonei [PMP], a rare form of intestinal cancer.

While she was well known for her creativity, photography, academic expectations, and loyal friendships, as well as her pets, Maxie and Lucy, it was Dayna’s keen sense of humor that that became her trademark. One that many say has enriched their lives.

For more than two years, she researched the disease that medical science knew little about. She underwent numerous surgeries and in June 2004, traveled to Creighton University Hospital in Omaha to brave an ambitious procedure performed by one of only six surgeons in the country.

“When diagnosed, it was considered very rare,” said her mother Pat, who was at her side when she died. “Hers was a different cancer cell. It was sort of trial and error ... and miserable. Dayna was determined that she was going to beat her cancer.”

“It was pretty funny,” added long-time friend and co-worker Margie Brooks, a fifth-grade teacher at Los Alamitos.

“She knew more than the doctors did, and she did a lot of sharing and helping other people on her computer. She found a lot of comfort in that. Even when she was going through chemo, she would drive other patients all over the county to their treatments as well.”

A rare cancer, only approximately 500 are diagnosed yearly—very rare compared to an estimated 200,000 who are told they have breast cancer each year—one that sends patients from all over the world to either Omaha or Pittsburg for treatment.

“Since our disease is so rare, there isn’t a lot of information out there,” said Gabrielle Graham, founder of the PMP Pals Network, a worldwide resource and referral service for patients with rare intestinal cancers. The site provides information, support, and resources to those—like Dayna and Graham—who are dealing with PMP. “All of us are deeply saddened to learn of her passing. Naturally, everyone is feeling rather overwhelmed by the loss. We were honored to have known her and share a bit of her life.”

Determination, according to her aunt Penny, was something Dayna mastered at an early age—making the summer of 1968 with the 8-year-old one she will never forget.

“That year I was 21 and a student at the University of Iowa,” she said. “I had the pleasure of sharing a bedroom with Dayna for the entire summer. One day her Mom (my sister) told me that we could not come out of the bedroom until it was clean. Dayna did not want to clean her room and she didn’t care if we had to stay in there all day—which we did. She was perfectly capable of entertaining herself and enjoyed it. I tried every type of child psychology on her that I could—to no avail. She was in charge then, and she was still in charge when she got cancer.”

“Anyone who knew her also knew that she could be feisty,” her mother added. “She would get very upset by injustice.”

Dayna Smalley, shown second from the right in the front row, traveled to San Juan Bautista in Oct 2004 for the annual “PMP Pals’ Conference. Her mother, Jan [on Dayna’s right] attended with her. Standing behind the woman on the end [Dayna’s left] was Professor Hobart Hamilton, who taught chemistry at CSU Stanislaus. He died earlier this year of the same disease.

While she was well known for her creativity, photography, academic expectations, and loyal friendships, as well as her pets, Maxie and Lucy, it was Dayna’s keen sense of humor that that became her trademark. One that many say has enriched their lives.

“She loved kids,” said Brooks. “And she loved photography too, but she had the best sense of humor I’ve ever seen. She had a lot of great learning lessons for most of us—even to the last day, she was making jokes with me.”

“No matter what the circumstances, she would always have a sense of humor,” agreed longtime friend, Julie Carbonetto, an Almaden resident. “She could be in a lot of pain and telling me what she was going through, and then she would make a funny comment and just crack me up.”

Carbonetto remembers when Dayna insisted on shooting her engagement portrait—a wedding present for the soon-to-be newlyweds—that would later be valued more for the memory it evoked.

“We never laughed so hard,” she said. “She had us sitting on people’s front porches—these cute little cottages, where she would see things others wouldn’t. We were sitting on this one porch and discovered someone inside staring at us and laughing with us. That’s the final picture that we picked. We’ll never forget that day.”

In addition to her mother, Dayna leaves behind her father, Chuck, of Arizona; brother Doug of Seattle; aunts Penny Miller of Michigan and Susan DeBruin (Charles) of Pennsylvania; many cousins; and her dog, Lucy.

A childhood class photo of Smalley from her days going to school in Livermore.

Although no memorial is planned, Brooks says that the staff at Los Alamitos is planning a private get-together to celebrate their lives with Dayna, along with stories and lessons they say they learned from her. In her memory, they also plan to pool their resources, with help from the American Cancer Society, and install a permanent bench in the kindergarten play area, bearing the name of their fallen comrade.

“She never felt sorry for herself,” said Carbonetto. “Instead, she brought a lot of gifts to the people in her life, and she was a gift to all the people whose lives she touched—the children, all her friends, and the stray pets she would match them up with.”

“Of course, I think she was extra special and had many gifts which she used,” her mother added. “I used to say that we have our kids for our own joy, and if they spend time with you when they are grown, it is a bonus. I had the privilege of many bonuses.”

In her memory, books can be purchased from the school Book Fair and donated to the library. Donations can also be made to the Los Alamitos Library Fund. A plaque the donor’s names will be placed in each book. Anyone wishing to post a message or photo on Dayna Smalley’s guestbook, which will remain active at Legacy.com until Dec. 7, 2006, may do so by visiting:

http://www.legavy.com/MercuryNews/Guestbook.asp?Page=GuestBook&PersonId=15894561