For 35 years, Debby Reynolds was the guardian of the Mountain View Elementary School library. But if a child wanted a book to read, she never stood in the way.

"She just loved books, and she just shared her love of reading with them, every encounter, every time they came into the library," Mountain View Principal Leigh Smith said.

If a child wanted to check out more books than the usual limit, Reynolds happily bent the rules, said Sarah Maxey, Reynolds' aide for many years at the Roanoke County school.

Reynolds, 58, died unexpectedly at her home Friday. Her son, Seth Reynolds, 22, said his mother stayed home from school Thursday and Friday because she was down with a cold. He lives away from home, and his father was out of town at a car show, Reynolds said. He stopped in to see his mother Friday and leave his new puppy with her for a while. He said he found her on the bathroom floor.

Emergency workers said it appeared that she had passed out from symptoms of the flu and fell in such a way that her airway was restricted, Reynolds explained. The family declined an autopsy and further testing to determine if she had H1N1 flu.

All weekend, Debby Reynolds' family has heard how she reached students and inspired them to read.

"Seeing how many people she's touched, seeing how many people she's changed, that helps us," Seth Reynolds said.

Debby Reynolds read voraciously herself. But ironically, two people she could never inspire to pick up anything other than a car or hunting magazine were her son and her husband, John. It was an old joke in the family.

They were apparently among the few beyond her reach.

"The school was her life," Seth Reynolds said. "It was me, and then it was school."

Many remembered her for her sweet demeanor.

"We worked together 29 years and never had a cross word," said Maxey, now retired. "I'm devastated. She was way too young to die."

Debby Reynolds loved a house full of kids, Seth Reynolds said. If he didn't have friends over to play, she asked him why and told him to find someone to invite. "They thought of her as a mother," he said.

At Halloween, her house was a favorite stop, Maxey said. She gave out stuffed animals and large candy bars instead of bite-sized ones.

"She made the best chicken salad I have ever had in my entire life," recalled Smith, the principal.

Smith sent a letter home Monday informing parents of Debby Reynolds' death, and letting them know counselors would be available to talk to students all week.

Students made cards for Reynolds' family, wrote in their journals and scrawled chalk memorials in the school's courtyard Monday, Smith said.

"We just are really in a state of grieving right now."