Mar 20, 2008

Hundreds — perhaps a thousand — friends, students and former students of Tawnya VanDyne filed into the Ava High School Gymnasium Tuesday afternoon for the funeral service of the 2nd grade teacher. Mrs. VanDyne, 47, died Saturday night at a Springfield hospital following a single-car crash earlier that day north of Ava. A cloud of grief spread over the Ava community like a blanket Saturday as word circulated, first of the serious injury, and later the death of the beloved teacher. Giving evidence of her position in the community was the presence of another 700-800 who attended the family visitation Monday night at Clinkingbeard Funeral Home. Scheduled from 6 to 7:30, the visitation ran until 10 o’clock as friends, family members, former students and acquaintances stopped by to give a hug or handshake, and to speak words of comfort to the grieving family. Mrs. VanDyne died at 7:35 p.m. Saturday at Cox Medical Center South, Springfield, where she was taken by ambulance following the 9:50 a.m. crash of her car. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said VanDyne was traveling south on County Road 201 (Old Highway 5) about a mile north of Ava when she lost control of her 2001 Chrysler 300, ran off the right side of the road and hit a tree. Personnel from Ava Rural and the City of Ava fire departments used hydraulic extrication equipment to free her from the vehicle, and assisted Cox Ambulance personnel at the scene. A 2nd grade teacher at Ava Elementary School for six years, Mrs. VanDyne previously taught pre-school before completing her degree and receiving a teaching certificate. For six years she operated Bright Beginnings preschool in her home, and prior to that she taught at Hilltop Preschool at the Ava Methodist Church. Many former students, whether in middle school, high school, or college, have reflected this week that Mrs. VanDyne was not just their favorite teacher but remained a close and personal friend. Recognizing the impact her absence would have in the school, Ava R-1 administrators called a staff meeting Sunday afternoon to prepare for the students’ arrival on Monday morning. Counselors were in place to talk to not only the 2nd grade students, but students throughout the system who were impacted by the loss. Not only was the school impacted by her death, but the community as well felt the tremendous loss. A vital and dynamic member of the Highway Church of the Nazarene, Mrs. VanDyne served the local church as a Sunday school teacher and board member, and also served her district as a member of the Church of the Nazarene Joplin District Advisory Board which oversees some 75 churches in southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri. She had previously served as president of the local church youth group, and still worked with young people in the church on a weekly basis. The daughter of Bud and Wilma Hutchison, of Ava, Tawnya had lived in Ava most of her life and was a 1978 graduate of Ava High School. In 1979 she married Rodney VanDyne, of Independence, Kan., and they lived in Sublette, Kan. for six years before returning to Ava. In addition to her parents and husband, she is survived by the couple’s two children, Justin and wife, Sonia, of Ava, and Kelsie, of Olathe, Kan.