Deanna's Dream 431 Endowed SDSU Scholarship

Deanna’s Dream 431 Endowed SDSU Scholarship will provide scholarship support to students at San Diego State University. Preference for students with family members who are active and/or retired San Diego City firefighters.

If you do not meet all of these requirements in a given term, you may lose your scholarship eligibility and your scholarship may be canceled.

Requirements:

• All majors and class levels are eligible.
• Recipients must have family members who are active and/or retired San Diego City firefighters. If none of the applicants have family members who are active and/or retired San Diego City firefighters, other applicants shall be eligible for the scholarship award.
• Recipients must be enrolled full-time.

Donor Profile:

Deanna Jo Key (Smith) September 2, 1946 (Labor Day) in Lincoln Nebraska – March 14, 2017 in La Mesa California. Daughter of Ethyl and J. Dayton Smith. The Smith Recital Hall is named after her father.

Deanna Jo Key (Smith) loved music, her mother and father, and all people, which is why the scholarship was created.

One of three siblings, she towered over the other two in physical height and every other measurement in life and death. Cinderella’s slipper would have fit her. She was 5-feet 9.5 inches, and proud of it! She won a shot-put contest at Lewis Jr. High School and wanted all to know…but would not brag, ever!

Deanna was employed for more than 30 years by the developers of Allied Gardens, Emerald Hills, and other major developments throughout California, where she was promoted to office manager.

Being born on Labor Day was somewhat a prophesy because work was the center of her life. Each day started with a walk around Lake Murray, followed by 1 to 1.5 hours of exercise, then off to work for 9 to10 hours. Weekends were dedicated to gardening and home maintenance. Many times, after laboring hard at work for 9 to 10 hours, she would stop at a grocery store for the evening meal, which she prepared.

Deanna was a gourmet chef. She had more than 150 cookbooks in her collection, many with bookmarks with her comments. She made it a point to cook with fresh and “wholesome ingridaments” (her fun with words).

She was super proficient in sewing and tailoring, creating shirts and other garments for her husband Kenny. She made her own jeans, robes, curtains, table cloths, ski outfits, etc….the list is long and includes her wedding dress. There was not a craft she would not tackle, nor a garden too large. Her tender care of the orchard produced extraordinary fruit. Her plumeria still thrives.

Animals were a source of joy and peace in her life. Dogs, cats, fish, turtles, and birds, she had each as pets and friends. Zoos pleased her but saddened her desire for all to be free. Yes, she loved animals but people even more! She was first to compliment and last to criticize anyone. She preferred to listen rather than speak.

Deanna taught school for a short while after graduating from SDSU with lifelong teaching credentials. She became disenchanted with the system after unwarranted criticism from a student’s parent. Never one to give up, she began her lifelong direction of teaching again. ONLY THIS TIME, SHE GAVE LESSONS IN HUMANITY AND GENEROSITY. There are many persons who will recall her pressing a 100-dollar bill into their palm, right when they were most in need of financial help. Once asked, “Why were you placed on earth,” her reply, quick and sincere was “to help and serve others.” She fulfilled her purpose and continues to do so.

In 2010, Deanna was attacked by cancer. For the next seven years, she suffered through pain and torture, both mental and physical. Many invasive surgeries and procedures, including open-heart surgery, chemotherapy, fluid extraction, etc. Refusing most pain-relieving medications for fear of addiction, made her pain even more difficult to bear. There has never been a person braver than Deanna! Her husband Kenny knows bravery, as he is retired from the San Diego Fire Department. He calls her “the bravest of the brave.”

There is much more to Deanna’s life, impossible to recall in words but remembered in loving memories. Life is but memories, so when next you see a butterfly, remember her, as you remember LOVE.