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Schools

Burton Elementary School Tries to Make Sense of Teacher's Death

Maureen Simon – remembered by colleagues as loving and with 'a sneak-attack sense of humor' – reminds us that 'a life well-lived contributes enormously in often-hidden ways,' Superintendent Michael Simeck says.

Students returned to on Tuesday after the community learned over Memorial Day weekend that it had suddenly lost first-grade teacher Maureen Simon, 61, of Royal Oak.

Simon passed away unexpectedly Friday of natural causes. She was a teacher at Burton for 26 years, principal Maribeth Krehbiel said, and in the district an additional eight years.

“At professional development on Friday, Maureen had laughed and worked with her friends and co-workers, and then just a few short hours later was suddenly gone,” Superintendent Michael Simeck said in a statement.

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“During many years of public service, I have experienced many sad events,” he said. “Watching first-graders coming to honor their teacher's life at her funeral service rivals any of them.”

After attending Simon’s funeral service Sunday, Simeck said he had felt “the profound impact and importance Maureen had on our community and its children.”

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He said Simon’s daughter, Stephani, commented that her mother "had no idea how many lives she had touched.”

Burton community bands together

Krehbiel said Simon shared stories with staff Friday about her daughter's upcoming trip to Italy.

"She worked on her report cards and left the building with her room ready for Tuesday," Krehbiel said in the letter, adding, "so sudden and tragic was her death that we are still trying to understand and make sense of it all."

Krehbiel sent the letter home with students Tuesday, thanking the community, staff and parents.

"Fortunately," she said, "our Burton community – families and staff alike – are very supportive in times of crisis. Parents jumped right in and helped phone the parents of the children in her class. Social worker parents called and extended their services to anyone who needed support.”

 The staff met with grief counselors before the children arrived and spent morning meetings discussing and remembering Simon.

For adults working to help children deal with with grief, the nonprofit Hospice Net offers the following advice: "We must seek a delicate balance that encourages children to communicate – a balance that lies somewhere between avoidance and confrontation, a balance that isn’t easy to achieve." It involves:

  • trying to be sensitive to (children's) desire to communicate when they’re ready,
  • trying not to put up barriers that may inhibit their attempts to communicate,
  • offering them honest explanations when we are obviously upset,
  • listening to and accepting their feelings,
  • not putting off their questions by telling them they are too young, and
  • trying to find brief and simple answers that are appropriate to their questions; answers that they can understand and that do not overwhelm them with too many words.

Perhaps most difficult of all, it involves examining our own feelings and beliefs so that we can talk to them as naturally as possible when the opportunities arise."

'She was always teaching'

“I feel lucky to have known Maureen,” first-grade teacher Pam Henry said of her colleague. “She was a wonderful teacher, loved by her students and colleagues, and had a sneak-attack sense of humor that we all enjoyed. Burton will not be the same without her.”

Krehbiel also remembered Simon fondly.

"Mrs. Simon loved 'her children,' " she said. "She could be firm and loving all at the same time. Each student was treated as her own child, and she was always teaching and spent hours putting vignettes together to inspire learning. Always prepared and knowledgeable about the skills first-graders should be proficient with, Mrs. Simon truly cared about children and their education."

Simeck said in his message to the community that Simon's co-workers should be proud of their own service, as she was.

“As sad as we all are and as the service so poignantly illustrated, Maureen gave us many, many blessings for which we must be thankful,” he said. “Also and importantly, it reminded us that Maureen loved what she did and that she could not have imagined doing anything else with her time and her life. Her co-workers know from her example that she found her work important, meaningful, and fulfilling.

“Her life serves as a reminder for us to cherish what we had and have with her and each other, to be assured of our work's importance, and to recognize that a life well-lived contributes enormously in often-hidden ways.”

Burton PTA President Lauren Hirsch said the school is working on a memorial fund in honor of Simon. For now, those wanting to make a contribution can forward donations to treasurer Eric Gurvitz via the school office, Hirsch said.

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