Dogwood tree planted in rememberance of IU alumna

IU Alumna Kate Comiskey loved nature. \nSo planting a tree in her memory seemed appropriate, said her friend Sarah Cahillane. Cahillane and her friend Danny Cheshire orchestrated a tree-planting ceremony outside the Education Building Wednesday for Comiskey, a teacher at Indian Creek High School in Trafalgar, Ind., who died in a car crash last November in Bloomington.\n"Sarah gave us a wonderful gift with a beautiful dogwood that will take root and bloom every spring," said Kate's mother, Nancy Comiskey, an IU journalism professor. "Kate loved her friends and I think this is a perfect memorial to her life."\nCahillane said she wanted a tree that would flower, like a dogwood. The journalism school donated more than half of the $300 it cost to buy the tree and family and friends chipped in the rest. About 30 people attended the event. \n "Hopefully the tree would provide some solace for all of us knowing that something has rooted in her name," she said. "And I thought the tree was a really great way for Kate to stay a part of the community that she loved so much." \nCahillane chose the words on the plaque by the tree, which read, "Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart: Kate Comiskey, cherished always by family and friends."\nNancy Comiskey read a poem by Emily Dickinson at the event. Cahillane said she wanted the day to be one of remembrance.\n"My friend Danny and I, we really wanted it to be a day where we remembered all the happy moments with Kate and the funny things that she did," Cahillane said. "She always made us laugh. It was a nice, happy day to remember the good things about her."\nCahillane met Kate while working at Michael's Uptown Cafe, 102 E. Kirkwood Ave. They remained close friends for three years before Kate died. \nKate's brother Daniel Comiskey said he thought Kate would be "pleased" with the tree planting.\n"Bloomington meant so much to Kate and I'm glad that she'll always have a place here," he said. "That being said, the ceremony made me very sad. I miss my little sister terribly. The sapling reminds me of how delicate and graceful she was."\n-- Contact Senior Writer Joelle \nPetrus at jpetrus@indiana.edu.