Compassion of Slain Educator, Lawyer Recalled

The life of Sharron Lee Dean straddled the worlds of law and education. Colleagues in both professions remembered the compassion for the needy of the 50-year-old second-grade teacher and lawyer who was shot to death Saturday.

At the Levitt & Quinn Family Law Center, her desk still was decorated Monday with gifts from clients: a hanging ornament made of straw, dried flowers, a candy dish, a cube of personalized stationery. But the chair is empty.

On Monday afternoon, students at Saturn Street Elementary School in Mid-City where Dean taught took home a letter from Principal Lois Beaubian.

“It is with extreme sadness and regret that I inform you of the passing of . . . one of our most revered teachers,” the letter said.

On Saturday night, Dean had gone to dinner with a friend. They’d meant to see the movie “James and the Giant Peach,” but their conversation had extended past the show time. They decided to call it a night instead.

It was about 10:40 p.m. as they headed north on Santa Rosalia Drive just north of Stocker Street in the Crenshaw area when a bullet shattered the car’s rear window and struck Dean as she sat in the passenger seat. She died an hour later at UCLA Medical Center.

Police have made no arrests in the shooting. They said they do not know if the bullet was intended for Dean or was a stray shot.

She taught on and off for 22 years in the Los Angeles Unified School District, starting as a substitute in 1974. For the last three years, she worked at Saturn Street.

“She was always upbeat,” Beaubian said. “We used to tease her and say that Sharron could teach a rock to read.”

On her own time, she mentored three young employees at Saturn Street. Over several months, she cajoled, argued and ultimately persuaded them to attend college.

“She just took them under her wing and said, ‘You can do better,’ ” recalled Pat Karasick, chapter chairperson of the United Teachers-Los Angeles and another teacher at Saturn Street.

According to Karasick, Dean had to not only persuade the three young men but also their parents and girlfriends. Dean shepherded them through the applications, lent them money for application fees and accompanied them on tours of the campuses. One now attends college in Orange, one in Georgia and one in Oklahoma.

When Dean’s teaching energies flagged a few years ago, she sought a new career in law, completing her degree from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law in May 1992. She passed the California Bar in 1994 and joined Levitt & Quinn, a nonprofit firm that represents needy clients, six months ago.

“She wanted to make more of a difference in someone’s life,” said Michele Saling, the firm’s managing attorney. She reduced her teaching duties at Saturn Street and started going to court three times a week to handle custody cases.

Lesa Palmer, a client Dean helped to regain custody of a son, became her friend. Palmer called the office Monday and heard the news.

“My heart almost stopped,” Palmer said. “I’m going to miss her very much.”