LANIKAI — As nearly a hundred friends and family members paddled out in eight canoes from Lanikai Beach yesterday morning, dozens of Lanikai Elementary School children touched by Amy Bruhl splashed in the water in honor of their late teacher.

Nearly 300 others looked on as the ashes of Bruhl were scattered at her favorite paddling spot. People stopped to reflect at a table where her paddle, wrapped in a purple ribbon — her favorite color — was propped against her picture.

Bruhl, a second-grade teacher known as "Mrs. B," died April 24 after battling cancer. The mother of three taught at Lanikai Elementary School for more than seven years.

"She found something special in every child," said Barb Vanderkamp, who taught part-time with Bruhl. "She let kids know they had a gift and she recognized it."

In November 2004 Bruhl was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that affects the bones. Following chemotherapy and the amputation of her right leg, Bruhl returned to the classroom last fall.

In August, cancer was found in her lungs. Told that she had six months to live, she and her family visited relatives on the Mainland in January before Bruhl began to receive hospice care at home.

Bruhl is survived by her husband, Bill, and children, Mollie, 15, Zachary, 13, and Malcolm, 12.

"She was really funny," said Kaitlyn Beckwith, 8, one of Bruhl's students. "She would chase us with her crutches."

Students said Bruhl used games and dance to make learning fun. One student recalled how Bruhl helped the class remember the multiples of 3 by singing songs from the movie "Shrek." She would even bring her pug Musubi to school to let kids play with it.

"She liked to dance the Macarena," said Romant Romero, 7, recalling how Mrs. B would always crank up the music to get her students to dance.

When word came that Bruhl passed on after her 18-month battle with cancer, students across campus wanted to do something to honor her memory.

Some donated the few dollars they made from a lemonade sale to her memorial fund. Others got together to create fliers for her memorial service.

"Wednesday at lunchtime, four of her students from last year came rushing in and said, 'Ms. Vanderkamp, Ms. Vanderkamp, we made signs for Mrs. B's funeral, can we put them up?' " Vanderkamp said. "They had a stack of purple copy paper and they had written 'Mrs. B's funeral is this Friday at 5 o'clock. Hope you can make it. She loves us all.' "

The fliers were taped to columns and walls all over the school.

Students also created a garden on the Lanikai Elementary School campus dedicated to Mrs. B complete with a picnic area and tile murals. It has been dubbed "Mrs. B's Haven."

"She was always having fun. She was always misbehaving," Lynda Kerwin, Bruhl's sister-in-law, said with a laugh. Kerwin recalled Bruhl's feisty personality and her ability to make everyone smile.

At yesterday's memorial, Bruhl's husband, Bill, marveled at the number of people who showed up to remember his wife.

"She touched so many lives," he said.

Kathleen Thomas, one of Bruhl's paddling buddies, reflected on how the teacher helped her autistic daughter fit in at school.

"She used to bring my little girl into her classroom so when Katie was on campus all of her students would know who she was," Thomas said. Bruhl would do this year after year until this year, when 9-year-old Katie joined Bruhl's class.

"So that's why, when we're walking around, all the kids know Katie. Amy was one of the key people who brought her in. She changed our lives," Thomas said.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.