Mary Smith, a special education teacher, died from complications of COVID-19 on December 8, 2020 at the age of 49. She taught for 21 years with the Special School District of St. Louis County, most recently teaching first graders at Fairview Elementary in Jennings.
According to KSDK’s reporting, “Smith lived with her mother and was her primary caregiver. The week of Thanksgiving, Smith’s mother contracted COVID-19 and died a short time later…”. The seven students that Mary taught were individually notified, and staff at Fairview held a “therapy session” after the news broke. Counselors are available for students and staff to help them deal with this loss.
Jennings School District went virtual on November 18th, and no students or staff were exposed to Smith after she contracted the novel coronavirus
Mary Smith was much loved by all those who knew her, and special education was her true calling in life. She is deeply missed by all her former students, children of all ages who she helped out in life, her coworkers, and her family.
An obituary had not been published as of this writing; this post will be edited and added to as more is learned. Originally published December 9 around 8:30pm.
Sadly, Mary Smith is not the first education professional in St. Louis to die of COVID-19 – please see this page memorializing those that I know about.
Sources:
- Jennings special education teacher dies of coronavirus (Mary Smith) – Published December 9, 2020 on STLToday.com
- St. Louis County special education teacher dies from complications related to COVID-19 (Mary Smith) – Published December 9, 2020 on KSDK.com
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