Remembering the life of Remy Tonks

As students returned from spring break, Samo administration broke the news that fellow Viking, Remy Tonks, age 20, a beloved part of the Life Skills Program, had passed away Monday, Apr. 2 after a series of strokes. This was her fifth year at Samo and her first year in the Adult Transition program.  Tonks has been a part of the Santa Monica Unified School District since she was a toddler. She attended McKinley Pre-School, Will Rogers Elementary School and Lincoln Middle School before coming to Samo.  Those who work in Life Skills classes remember her as someone who added mounds of positivity to the everyday school life.  “She’s real cheeky. Real silly. Has a happy disposition and always generally satisfied - not someone who was ever easily upset,” her teacher, Kelly Keith said.  What the Life Skills staff notices the most now is the silence. She was described as a very chatty person, and the classroom was always filled with her voice.  “Her regular silly phrases are the thing that we miss and remind us of her,” Keith said.  Aside from her happy disposition, Tonks was very active. She loved the outdoors, her scooter and her dad’s boat. She also loved to interact with others. Her teacher explained that she was extremely social, and was very happy to be with people who would laugh with her. Keith recalled how Tonks would always get a joke and loved to laugh at them.  Keith also wanted to acknowledge that yes, Tonks did have a disability, but it did not get her down. She explained that not only was Tonks happy most of the time, but that she really wanted to be happy and wanted to make the most of every moment, and her disability “never caught her up.”  “She was a great example of being happy with who you are,” Keith said. Not only did Tonks make a mark on her school community, but she was an even more impactful teacher to her family.  Her mother, Tanya Smith, misses “everything about her . . . her giggles, cuddles and kisses, her loud voice,”  and considers herself “fortunate to be her mama.”  Her younger sister Dempsey (‘18) saw her big sister as a life teacher. “She taught me so much, but one of the most important lessons I learned from her was that through every struggle you can rise up and find joy.  For that she was my idol. She face many obstacles in life but remained the happiest girl I ever met, “ Dempsey Tonks said.