TESSA GAY DYE / MAGOON ESTATE DIRECTOR
Tessa Gay Dye, former mistress of the Honolulu City Ballet and an international ballerina, died of cancer at her Kailua home Saturday. She was 56. Ballerina embraced family life,
community service
See also: Obituaries
By Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.comBob Dye, her husband of 26 years, said he hired her to head the short-lived city ballet company when he was an administrator in the mid-1970s. He soon became entranced when he saw her dance, he said.
She was born Tessa Magoon in Honolulu and dreamed of becoming a ballerina from the time she was a little girl, he said. Her dreams were fulfilled, dancing with ballet troupes in Berlin and New York, and touring with the Jose Greco Spanish Ballet all over the world, he said.
"She was a very lovely hula dancer, also," he added.
Tessa Dye attended Punahou School, but left before graduating to enroll in the Royal Ballet School in London. She later attended Hawaii Pacific University.
She stopped performing once they started having their three children and became "a great mother," Dye said.
"She was an absolutely delightful woman and a fine person," he said.
Tessa Dye was on the board of directors of Kindergarten Children Aid Association, ASSETS School, the Magoon Estate and the Guenoc Winery of California. She was a member of the Daughters of Hawaii and the Friends of Iolani Palace.
Besides her husband, Dye is survived by son Kekapala, and daughters 'Ahia and Hi'ilei.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Kailua. Inurnment will be private. Aloha attire is requested. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the KCAA, ASSETS or Hawaii Pacific University. Arrangements are being made by Borthwick Mortuary.
A celebration of Tessa Dye's life will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday at Kalama Beach Club, 280 N. Kalaheo Ave., Kailua.
