By Andy Boyle and Danny Valentine, Times Staff Writers
Friday, September 10, 2010
Joe Dyals’ mother says her son knew he wanted to be an art teacher since he graduated from the University of Florida. He was hit by a car Thursday morning and killed while riding his bicycle.
TAMPA — The driver of the vehicle that killed art teacher Joe Dyals, 46, while he was bicycling to work was a former colleague at Lawton Chiles Elementary School.
Mara Lynn Colle, 48, was a special education teacher at the school from October 2006 until June, when she moved to Forest Hills Elementary, according to the Hillsborough County School District.
She switched school because Chiles no longer needed her specialty.
"It's a double tragedy," said principal Kim Pietsch.
Deputies said Colle was driving south on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Dyals was riding east on Cove Bend Drive. Dyals pulled out in front of Colle's 2005 Toyota and was struck, according to Hillsborough sheriff's deputies.
Students and teachers were mourning his death Friday morning by making cards to post on a board in remembrance.
"He was a really dedicated educator," said Pietsch. "I don't want to say that this was his life. But teaching students and his passion for that and dedication to the school was really the fire that kind of kept him going."
Dyals had another fire that was important to him — the school's kiln. Pietsch said it was important to him that every child make a completed clay piece each year.
Dyals' mother, Linda, said her son knew he wanted to be an art teacher since he graduated from the University of Florida.
He talked about his students and projects a great deal, she said.
"I know he thoroughly enjoyed it," she said.
Because Dyals taught art, he had an impact on every student in the school, Pietsch said. The fifth-graders had him for six years, starting in kindergarten.
He was outgoing, meticulous and friendly, she said. And when it came to his job, she said Dyals was hardworking and professional.
"He was definitely a staple of our building," she said.
Dyals worked for Hillsborough County schools since 1993, said school district spokesman Stephen Hegarty. He taught at Tampa Palms Elementary School and Folsom Elementary School before joining Chiles when it opened in 2001.
Linda Dyals said her son, 46, was always artistic. As a kid, he loved getting pencils, coloring books and water colors. He eventually developed specialties in pottery and pen and ink drawing.
Dyals wasn't married and had no children, but he was close with his brother, Jason, his sister, Elena Harvey, and his parents.
He was a bit of a homebody. He liked reading, working in the yard and fishing with his dad. He didn't hunt though, his father Ben said. He loved animals too much.
His father said they went on two fishing trips this summer. Each time, Dyals caught the biggest bass — about four pounds.
"Joe's been fishing with me since he was about six years old," he said.
Dyals talked to his father last week, anxious to get copies of the fishing photos so he could show them off to his friends. He never got to see them.
"It's one of the sad notes," Dyals said.