People ask me why I shave my head . . .

MILFORD -- The news of a little girl's death, though not unexpected, rippled through the community that loved her Thursday.

Zoe Anyan, 7, died Wednesday night at Boston Children's Hospital with her family around her, family spokesman Daphne Main said.

The little girl's parents donated their daughter's brain to researchers who want to study the rare cancer that killed her, Main said. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Dennis and D'Arcy Funeral Home on Main Street in Stratford, with calling hours Friday evening and a funeral Mass on Saturday at St. Gabriel Church.

Children at Live Oaks School, where Zoe was a second-grader, were offered grief counseling Thursday morning, spokesman Kathy Bonetti said. The children were aware of their classmate's passing and of the seriousness of her illness, Bonetti said. "She had been frequently hospitalized, but when she was able to she enjoyed attending school with her Live Oaks `family'," Bonetti said.

Zoe had been receiving hospice care for the malignant diffuse glioma, an aggressive brain tumor that her mother Melissa said no child has ever survived. But she had attended school as recently as last month, family members said. She had marked her 7th birthday in November with an in-school party that included a visit and a proclamation from Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr.

"Zoe was a little girl who loved to come to school and persevered during the most difficult times so that she could come in and see all her friends, adults and children, at our school," principal Rose Lacobelle said. "She was a terrific artist and she loved to bake. Zoe taught many of us to enjoy the small moments and to shrug off the small stuff."

Two Live Oaks students spearheaded a lemonade sale that raised $500, which the Anyans used to rent an air-conditioned van to take Zoe to Memphis for treatment last summer at St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

Lacobelle communicated with parents of Live Oaks students through the Board of Education's Connect-Ed system, leaving a recorded message that suggested that parents gauge their own children's reaction to Zoe's death, answering whatever questions the children have.

Bonetti, too, said that some children are more resilient than others. "You want to be a resource, but you want the child to lead" the discussion, said Bonetti, president of the Milford PTA Council. Social workers were available Thursday and likely will be again on Friday, educators said.

Acting Superintendent Mike *******s said the support for Live Oaks pupils and staff "will be available for as long as they need it. The thoughts and prayers of the Milford public schools' staff are with Zoe's family."

The Anyans attended St. Gabriel Church in Walnut Beach, and parishoners held ziti dinners, a magic show and other fundraisers to help the family. Main said that the family will likely need the community's help with funeral costs, including transporting the little girl's body back from Boston.

Zoe became ill last spring, first with dizziness and double vision. Her cancer was diagnosed at Yale Children's Hospital, and she was entered into an experimental treatment program at St. Jude's that for a time shrank the apricot-sized tumor on the base of her brain stem.

She received a puppy for Christmas and had recently moved with her family to a larger apartment. She was a happy, friendly girl who enjoyed eating, especially McDonald's french fries, family members said. Zoe is survived by her parents, Melissa Castango-Anyan and Scott Anyan, a sister, Jasmine, 16, and several close relatives.