Reporter Dana Kaye ‘was a fighter until the end’

With her husband of seven years and her teenaged daughter Alden by her side, television journalist Dana Kaye Alsobrooks, 50, died early Friday after a lengthy battle with brain cancer.

Her many fans at WTVF-Channel 5 knew her simply as Dana Kaye, the always-smiling, dark-haired, articulate woman who reported the news from near and far, from Nashville to Afghanistan to Iraq.

"She just took a turn for the worse. She was a fighter up until the end, but the end came peacefully," said her husband of seven years, Dan Alsobrooks, a district attorney general for several counties west of Nashville.

Kaye had been in the hospital repeatedly over the past year and several weeks ago entered Alive Hospice in Nashville. By her bed were dozens of photographs of her journeys taken in the name of journalism during a 30-year career.

Her colleagues at Channel 5 were heartbroken at the news even though they had known for weeks that the end was near.

Mike Cutler, news director, said he would miss her smile the most.

"She celebrated life. She loved her job. She loved reporting, but she had her priorities straight. Her family came first. She and her daughter were best friends," Cutler said.

"She laughed a lot. I can still hear her laugh when I think about it."

News anchor Chris Clark said what impressed him so much about Kaye was her determination to get a story, "no matter how hot it was, or how cold it was and she never complained,'' he said.

"When she went to Afghanistan and Iraq she knew it was without the comforts of home. She knew what she was getting into, but you never heard her complain."

That did not mean she did not miss the amenities taken for granted at home, said Mike Rose, a photographer who traveled to Afghanistan in January 2002 with Kaye.

"I always kidded her that she sold me out for a hair dryer. There was an Armed Forces Network reporter who needed a photographer. That reporter had a hair dryer so she traded me for the hair dryer,'' said Rose, laughing.

"Dana was just a great person to go on a story with. It made for a great working environment, and you tended to do better work when it was like that. She's going to be really missed,'' he said.

There was a special place in her heart for soldiers, especially the Rakkasans, the 187th Infantry Regiment, based at Fort Campbell, with whom she was embedded in both overseas trips.

After it became known that she was seriously ill, the commander of the battalion she was embedded with, wrote her a letter.

"Dana, you're a tough lady, that's for certain. You endured the hardships of the 2003 Iraq invasion right alongside the soldiers of the Raider Rakkasans and you earned the respect of every one of them … It has always been apparent that, for you, it's not just the story, it's about the people," wrote Capt. Michael Krull, commander of the 2nd Battalion.

Alsobrooks said his wife amazed him with her courage, stamina and determination.

"Her assignments with the Army and the 101st Airborne were the most compelling and cherished of her career. The biggest disappointment to her was not getting to join the troops in Iraq one last time," he said.

The family will receive friends from 4 until 9 p.m. Sunday at Taylor Funeral Home, 214 N. Main St. in Dickson. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at First Baptist Church in Dickson, 2501 Highway 70 East. •