Dale Kaye Smalley went on to be with the Lord at Agape Hospice House on October 1, 2023 after a 2 ½ year battle with cancer.

Born February 23, 1955, in Islip, New York, she was the daughter of the late Bruno Anthony and Joan Riccelli Kaye.

She spent a large portion of her professional career in the health care field with Peterson and Plante Internal Medicine and later Lexington Medical Center.

Dale cherished her work with her church. She was an original member of Chapin Presbyterian Church. She established and led her church handbell choir and played the violin at church services. She taught children handbells for many years and especially enjoyed seeing their bright smiles at church performances.

She was a renaissance woman and her interests ranged far and wide. She loved learning, was an avid reader and long-standing member of two book clubs.  Her interests ranged from flying (she had a private airplane pilot's license) to music to knitting. She would become interested in a subject and tirelessly research it, everything from belly dancing to quantum mechanics to the history of our democracy.

She pursued her musical passion by playing with the Long Bay Symphony Orchestra while living in Myrtle Beach and later as a member of the Lake Murray Symphony Orchestra.

Giving back to the community was second nature to her. Dale volunteered with the Zonta Club of Columbia where she led fundraising efforts to assist women in crisis and at the Lowman Home in White Rock.

Dale played a mean game of racquetball. Her baking skills were legendary, friends and family were eager recipients of pound cakes, cookies, and other treats from Dale's kitchen. Dale traveled with her fiancé Lynn and with friends and family.

Dale loved to travel and believed in going first class in every way from hotels to cruises all-inclusive resorts. She took many happy trips, before and after she retired, to Mexico, Guatemala, New Orleans, Florida, the mountains of North Carolina and around her adopted home state of South Carolina.

Dale will be remembered for her vibrant smile, her can-do attitude, her mischievous nature, and her serenity.

She is survived by her devoted fiancé, Edward Lynn Kirtley of Chapin, South Carolina, her sister Paula Kaye (Charles) Snell, St. Augustine Florida, her nephew, Evan Mathis (Katie Price), Atlanta, Georgia, and her great-nephew, Kaden Mathis, Atlanta, Georgia. She is also survived by a diverse group of close friends from her childhood, work family, church, orchestra, and book clubs.

A special thank you is extended to the caring staff of the Lexington Community Agape Hospice House as well as Brooke Health and Lexington Medical Center Oncology Department. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Chapin Presbyterian Church General Fund, 600 Old Lexington Highway, Chapin, SC 29036.

A memorial service will be held at Chapin Presbyterian Church, at 6pm on Friday, October 20, 2023.

Whitaker Funeral Home, Chapin is honored to serve the family of Dale K. Smalley.