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Kimberlee Caledonia
CALEDONIA, KIMBERLEE - We celebrate the life of Kimberlee Caledonia, born June 7, 1962, who passed away on March 19, 2008, after courageously battling brain cancer for over two years. Kimberlee was an elite athlete, photographer, teacher, friend, lover of languages and lover of life. Her athletic career was varied and exceptional. In the 1980s, she pioneered mountain bike racing, gaining national stature as a top-three competitor in the U.S. In addition, she raced road bikes and was invited to the U.S. Olympic Training Center on numerous occasions for training. At home, Kimberlee could be found riding San Diego County roads most weekends putting in thousands of miles a year. Cycling 100 miles on a Saturday or Sunday became a normal occurrence for Kimberlee.
"I remember one particularly long ride we did together," says Del Mar resident, Richard Bryne. "I was not as fit as she was, and she was just motoring. For the first half of the ride, we were chatting side-by-side. Then later, we were still side-by-side but she was doing most of the talking. I remember I was just hanging on and hoping I wouldn't get dropped."
In 2003, she competed in double centuries (200 mile rides in one day) and posted a 12 hour 11 minute time at the Hemet Double Century which gained her top woman and youngest female finisher. She also accomplished a California Triple Crown that year, completing three different double century rides. Another riding companion, Escondido's Greg Finch says, "I began riding with Kimberlee once a month or so in 2000 as I started my Ironman quest and from 2001 through 2004 we rode at least once a week together. She weighs about 110 lbs. (maybe) but could hammer on a bike. I can honestly say she was a main ingredient in my Ironman resume."
Kimberlee not only bicycled for fun and exercise, but she also wrote about her favorite San Diego rides and had them published as "Kimberlee's Courses" in Bicycling San Diego magazine. A couple of long-time friends met Kimberlee through her BSD writings. When Kimberlee wasn't bicycling she was running, competing in numerous short-distance races as well as four Boston Marathons which she ran with her brother, Dana. In 1996, she posted a career best marathon time of 3:08:24 in Houston.
In addition to athletics, Kimberlee traveled the world (including Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, Norway, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, and China) and with her husband, Dan Gindling, made photos for his travel stories. For 15 years her photographs appeared with his stories in national publications - like Bicycling and Mountain Bike magazines -- and numerous newspapers (including the Union-Tribune). She graduated summa cum laude with distinction from San Diego State University in 1995 and taught Spanish at Santana H.S. and West Hills H.S. in Santee. She learned French as well as Spanish and studied Chinese to prepare for a 2007 trip. In 2000, she won that year's Spanish Embassy Grant and spent four weeks in Spain studying the language she loved.
When her cancer was diagnosed in December, 2005, Kimberlee didn't slow down -- she sped up. She bicycled more, ran, surfed, hiked, met with friends, threw parties and continued to travel. During one five-day chemo cycle she hiked to the 14,505 foot peak of Mount Whitney besting everyone in her group by over an hour. Her zest for life, especially when she became ill, inspired everyone she met and many people she never knew but knew about her through her "Kimberlee Updates." The e-mail Updates became weekly scribes of her life dealing with brain cancer underlining Kimberlee's wit, charm, compassion, courage and especially humor. The Updates will be assembled into a book that will be available soon.
She became closer to her family after cancer struck. Her sister, Laurie, took her on excursions every week - to the beach, the movies, museums, or just to the local coffee bar to talk of life -- which Kimberlee looked forward to and cherished for every minute. Her mom and dad, Marie and Al Caledonia, treated her to lunch, sat with her in the sun, or just talked while she rested. Her brother Dana, a Houston dentist, visited on numerous occasions as did her sister, Lisa, from Massachusetts. Both kept in constant contact with Kimberlee via phone and e-mail. Her brother Greg, who lives in San Diego, offered moral support. And her husband Dan kept Kimberlee pursuing her passion: the bicycle. They started on a standard tandem, then a recumbent tandem and finally a Trailer Trike which allowed Kimberlee to continue to enjoy cycling with Dan doing the steering and braking.
Their last ride together came under a cloudless, sunny day which brought extreme joy to them both. "Kimberlee's Bikes for Kids," a non-profit charity, is being established whose goal will be to supply needy San Diego children with new bicycles so that they can enjoy bicycling as much as Kimberlee did.
To find out more or to contribute, contact Dan Gindling at dannyg@zet.com. Everyone who was touched by Kimberlee Caledonia will never forget her. She was caring and funny, athletic and courageous. We will all miss her and love her, and carry on her love affair with the bicycle. Please sign the guest book at obituaries.uniontrib.com
Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on 3/30/2008.
Family, Friends To Memorialize Life of UCSB Student
Second-Year Danny Riley Dies From Rare Brain Tumor; Family Sets Up Fund
By Aria Miran / Staff Writer
Published Monday, November 5, 2007
UCSB Daily Nexus
Issue 30 / Volume 88
Danny Riley rode his bicycle to class for the last time on Oct. 11.
Just 20 days later, the second-year English major passed away of a rare brain tumor. According to Catherine Omalev, her boyfriend wasn’t about to let cancer make him swear off classes.
“Danny wasn’t ‘cancer boy,’” second-year environmental studies major Omalev said. “We look at it as he did beat the cancer. For a lot of people in the weeks leading up to the end, they’re like, ‘Where’s the miracle?’ For his family and I, Danny is the miracle.”
Riley was diagnosed with the rare illness known as Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma in 2004. The 19-year-old UCSB student fought the disease, which is generally benign, with several surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy that slowed the aggressive cancer. He passed away on Oct. 31 at about 3 a.m. A memorial service will take place on Nov. 17 in San Diego at 7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, Riley’s family requests that attendees contribute to the Danny Riley Celebration of Life Fund, which will help children learn to live with cancer through music.
According to Riley’s mother, Margaret Baker, when her son grew too ill to stay at school, his friends and family surrounded him, playing music and spending time in his company.
“There were 20 or 25 people [with him] each night trying to make sure Danny was really comfortable and the house was full of laughter and music and love,” Baker said.
Baker said her son liked to express himself by writing music and singing along to the guitar he taught himself to play in high school.
“That guitar and his own signing voice was where he sounded best,” Baker said. “He had a gift. In his short life he wrote a lot of nice songs.”
Riley shared his passion for music with his cousin, UCSB alumnus Jack Johnson. Baker said her son sang a harmony for one of Johnson’s upcoming songs, and chatted with musician Ben Harper about life and music. Omalev said her boyfriend was a gifted musician.
“Danny is a born writer and a born poet,” Omalev said. “He would just write and formulate his own tunes in his head.”
Omalev said that when Riley’s health failed to improve after a recent operation, she and his family focused on spending their remaining time doing what he loved - enjoying life.
“He had a surgery over summer and it really was a life or death situation for him,” Omalev said. “We knew he wasn’t cured, but they also told us at the same time that he would have a couple months. For me it wasn’t ‘He’s going to die, he’s going to die,’ it was more like ‘Let’s live.’”
Riley’s roommate, second-year psychology major Mike Bosetti, said he admired his friend’s drive to continue with his daily life in the face of his illness.
“Danny never got down on himself or blamed the cancer for anything,” Bosetti said. “He threw up in a couple of classes. He just opened his backpack, threw up and stayed the rest of the class. He was such a fighter.”
Brain tumors have the potential to alter one’s personality as they grow. According to his mother, Riley’s family and friends were happy that his particular case stayed on the periphery of his brain, leaving his nature untouched.
“[Cancer] never affected his personality,” Baker said. “He was lucid to within 12 hours of dying. It was wonderful. He did a lot of good things in the end and was able to communicate his needs.”
Baker said that before he died, Riley wrote on his computer that he did not want to be remembered for his accomplishments, but for those he loved.
“The last thing he did was to point to his LIVESTRONG Lance Armstrong bracelet,” Baker said. “Somebody once asked him how he dealt with this, and he said, ‘Life.’ He just really embodied love.”