By KATE BEEM
Special to The Star
Posted on Mon, Aug. 01, 2011 10:15 PM
Who: Cinnamon Louise Smith, 31, of Kansas City.
When and how she died: July 9 of encephalitis.
“The biggest heart”: Dan English met Cinnamon Smith two years ago over a chai tea drink on the County Club Plaza. Her dazzling smile and infectious laugh captivated him. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
She was more than beautiful on the outside, friends and family said. Her beauty radiated from within, where she harbored the ability to understand and empathize with others.
Dan returned home one morning after losing his job. Cinnamon was just leaving for work. She hugged him and told him everything would be OK, he said.
“She made me feel like I could do anything,” he said. “She had the biggest heart of anybody I ever met.”
And her friends were legion. She maintained friendships with even her ex-boyfriends, said her father, Shad Smith. At her July 16 funeral at South-Broadland Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, more than 450 people came. The church broadcast the service in the church basement so the overflow crowd could participate, Dan said.
Even Cinnamon’s first-grade teacher attended.
“That’s the kind of impact she had on people,” Shad said.
Always helping others: When Shad and Deena Smith were expecting their first child, they knew they would choose an unusual name because they had them and their surname was Smith. Both loved the huge cinnamon rolls served at a fair they attended. And when Shad saw a plaque that read, “Cinnamon: Bringing spice to life,” they knew.
Cinnamon was a delightful child, Deena said. People often commented on her smile, but it was her laugh that made a lasting impression.
“Her laugh was infectious, but unexpectedly loud for her gentle demeanor,” Deena said.
Even as a child, Cinnamon had an uncanny ability to understand people, her parents said. As she grew older, she spent a lot of time at the Rainbow School, the preschool Deena directs at South-Broadland. When she was old enough, Cinnamon worked there. She noticed every child, her mother said.
“She just had a way of communicating with everyone that made them know they were special,” Deena said.
After graduating from Pembroke Hill School and the University of Kansas, where she attained a psychology degree, Cinnamon found her niche in health-related fields. At the University of Kansas Medical Center, she worked in a smoking cessation program and a children’s weight loss program. Most recently, she was research coordinator at the University of Kansas Cancer Center.
Rabid Jayhawk fan: Cinnamon’s gentle nature went by the wayside when she set foot inside Allen Fieldhouse. She took every Jayhawk win or loss personally, Shad said.
Cinnamon shared her KU season tickets with her friends and family, but sometimes it could be embarrassing to sit next to her, said Dan, a die-hard Indiana Hoosiers fan. She was by far the loudest fan in the vicinity.
A creative streak: Halloween was Cinnamon’s favorite holiday because she could go all out with her costume, Dan said. Last year, she dressed as a con artist. Claiming to be a convicted felon, she walked around holding an artist’s palette and brush and wearing a beret.
Cinnamon dabbled in many things, her mother said, from photography to pottery.
“She saw the world for its beauty,” Deena said.
Survivors include: Her partner, her parents, her sister and brother-in-law, and her nephew.
Final thoughts: Like her parents and sister, Dan has found it difficult to cope with the sudden and unexpected loss of Cinnamon.
“She made me the best version of me,” he said. “She always meant everything she said.”
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Cinnamon Smith had an inner beauty that allowed her to understand and empathize with others.