A Beloved Teacher Dies, but Memories Live On in Students

Young Spanish-speaking students in Anita Garcia Lachenmeyer’s bilingual development class at Oak View Elementary School drew pictures and learned new English words on Thursday, as they usually do.

But this time, the assignment was not only an exercise in new vocabulary, but a means of venting feelings about the unexpected death of a teacher.

Seven months’ pregnant with her third child, Lachenmeyer, 39, who developed an acclaimed bilingual program at the school, died this week after suffering a brain aneurysm.

Stricken at home Tuesday, Lachenmeyer was rushed to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, where she died Wednesday. But her premature, 3-pound baby boy lived. And so did the memories of a beloved educator who danced for her kids, sang “the Rainbow Song” and cared for a pet spider.

“She was a natural teacher, and always had time and energy for every child and every parent,” Oak View Principal Joan Buffehr said Thursday. “She was a friend to anybody who needed her.”

Lachenmeyer was hired in 1988 to assist in Project EXCEL, a new districtwide bilingual program. The program, which she had coordinated for the last two years, aims to teach English to immigrant children while involving their parents more closely in education. It also trains district teachers to become bilingual instructors.

At school on Thursday, Pam Norton, a resource teacher for Project EXCEL, and a school psychologist began helping students understand their teacher’s death. Norton said she organized a language lesson for the students centering on their feelings for Lachenmeyer.

The children were assigned to draw a picture “and talk about the ways they remember Mrs. Lachenmeyer,” Norton said. She and her aides translated the children’s comments and copied them below the drawings, which were used to help the youngsters learn English words.

First-grader Jazmin Solis drew a rendition of Lachenmeyer and her family, along with a pet tarantula and frog that are kept in the classroom. Above it she wrote: “I love Mrs. Lachenmeyer. She danced with all the kids. She liked to dance in the middle of the circle. She like the Rainbow Song. She would catch the spider. And she talked about the frogs.”

The students’ papers will be compiled in a book, which Norton said she plans to give to Lachenmeyer’s family. “Everyone felt a lot better after sharing this with the kids, including some of the aides,” Norton said.

Lachenmeyer leaves behind her husband, Scott, three sons--a 2-year-old, a 1-year-old and the newborn son she never knew. Her mother-in-law, Joyce Lachenmeyer, said there was no clue that a fatal aneurysm would end Anita’s life.

“There was absolutely nothing that indicated she had any problem with her (blood) vessel,” said Joyce Lachenmeyer, who will now help with rearing Anita’s three sons. “She was brushing her teeth and she collapsed. It’s that simple.”

She added that while visiting Anita in the hospital Wednesday, the family found some solace in the outpouring of sympathy from her friends and co-workers.

“She had many, many calls, and she had hundreds of people who came to see her--and I truly mean hundreds,” Joyce Lachenmeyer said.

Stunned by the news of Lachenmeyer’s death, Oak View staff members and parents will hold a commemorative gathering next Thursday. Buffehr said she is working to establish a college trust fund for Lachenmeyer’s children.

Lachenmeyer’s co-workers described her as a tireless, creative teacher, who never seemed to mind putting in extra hours after school and on weekends to help her students and their parents. “And she was always smiling,” said Frances Andrade, the school’s community liaison.

“She was very much loved at that school and in that neighborhood,” said Kim Lam, a bilingual teacher at Oak View who worked closely with Lachenmeyer. “She was like a model for them. They could really identify with her.”

Andrade said she considered Lachenmeyer “a super role model” for Latino children in the community. “She exemplifies what children at Oak View could achieve,” she said. Others said Lachenmeyer also inspired parents to gain confidence in the school system and become more involved in their children’s education.

“She truly was an outstanding person--and an outstanding mother, I might add,” Joyce Lachenmeyer said. “This is truly a tragic thing.”