amollenauer@altoonamirror.com
Kaylee Kruise poses in her dance outfit in this photo submitted by her family. Kruise passed away Friday following a two year battle with brain cancer.
The community is mourning the loss of an Altoona student taken by cancer.
Kaylee Kruise, a fifth grader at Ebner Elementary School, died Friday after a more than two-year battle with brain cancer.
According to her parents, Richard and Melissa Kruise, Kaylee “warmed everyone’s heart with her sweet smile.”
The Kruises have been touched by the community’s outreach.
“We received support from the school with dress-down days,” the Kruises said in a text message. “They had the teachers pay money to dress down, and it (went) to our family. We also received support from the Brian Morden Foundation and Fighting All Monsters,” organizations that fight childhood cancer.