Beloved Mayflower Teacher Maggie Clark Died In Car Accident on Saturday
By Susan Motander
Published: Monday, May 10th, 2010
Arcadian Maggie Clark, who taught at Mayflower, was killed in a car accident Saturday morning
She and her colleague, Jan Dunbar were traveling to a workshop and were involved in a head-on collision, killing Maggie and seriously injuring Dunbar.
Maggie Smith, 44, a teacher at Mayflower Elementary School in Monrovia was killed over the weekend in a traffic accident while on her way to that conference. Monrovia Unified School District representatives said their first priority was to ensure that proper counseling was immediately available for her students and others at the highly honored school.
On Saturday, Clark was traveling by car to a conference in the Inland Empire with fellow teacher Janet Dunbar Just outside of Hemet a large diesel truck jumped the center divider and plowed into their car cutting it in half. Clark was killed; Dunbar is at home recovering from a broken leg. She is expected to make a full recovery.
Clark had taught at Mayflower school for over twenty years, starting in 1988, and was currently teaching a kindergarten class. Her students along with any others at the school will have counseling available all week.
Kirk McGinnis, principal at Mayflower said, “The Mayflower school community is greatly impacted by the horrific loss of beloved Kindergarten Teacher, Maggie Clark. She made a positive impact on the staff and students at Mayflower. She was a dedicated teacher, loved her students and was well-liked and respected by her colleagues. Mayflower staff members are all extremely saddened by this loss.”
McGinnis said that school counselors, trained in childrens’ need to grieve, would be available all day for both the students and the staff. An announcement was made in each classroom this morning about Clark’s death and teachers shared information about the death and talked with the students abour their feelings.
Lynn Gray, Mayflower school counselor, encouraged parents to talk to their children about their feelings about Mrs. Clark. She commented, “Discussing thoughts and feelings about death is important to help children work through his or her grief.”
Clark is survived by her husband Eduardo Diaz, a brother and her father.
A full remembrance of her life will be published in this the Weekly on Thursday.
Photos by Terry Miller
21 Responses for “Beloved Mayflower Teacher Maggie Clark Died In Car Accident on Saturday”
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I was a witness to this accident and would like you to change a statement you made. This accident was horrific and I am soooo saddened that Maggie passed. The car that hit her car was NOT a diesel truck. It was a standard size Dodge Ram. There was no center divider. The Dodge just glided into oncoming traffic for no apparent reason. I was right behind him when this happened. And it did not “cut the car in half”. It did, however, remove both doors on the drivers side. Again, I am seeking counceling myself for this tragedy, but I feel false statements about what happened should not be up. Thank you.
I came on this site to learn more about the woman that passed. I felt very badly that there was nothing I could do. I ran up to her, but it was already too late.
Heather,
I was the car behind you and I also witnessed this tragic accident. The post above is incorrect and before posting something like this for friends and family to see the facts should be straight. There was no diesel truck and the car was not cut in half.
Heather and myself were the first people to stop and try to help anyone that was involved in the accident and call 911. We did everything we could to help everyone involved and to be quite honest I myself can not sleep after being a witness to this and am seeking help. God bless the friends and families of Maggie Clark.
So sorry to hear you witness the tragic accident but no right or wrong statement will bring her alive and if that driver was drunk, statement should not matter he is a disgusting person that hopefully pays for his reckless behavior …. She was a great teacher and my thoughts and prayers for all her students and family
I did not know Mrs.Clark very well, but I heard great things about her. I wish I could have gotten to know her better. I go to Mayflower and I have known Mrs.Clark since kindergarden, but have never really talked a lot. The last time I saw her, I was dropping one of her students off after a Peace Patrol problem with Rebecca DeLaO. I wish her family the best and I am sure she is watching over all of her stundents. She is in our hearts and in a better place now. It may be weird not seeing her around to pick up her students at the pergula.
I knew her very well and she was a great person. In my daughter’s birthdays she was always spending time with them taking all kinds of great pictures. Al the memories that I have from her are great. She was dedicated to her job and kids. She wanted her husband Ed to create a fundraiser for kids programs if anything happened to her. I’m pretty sure he will do that. Maggie we will all miss you.
I was staying at my daughter’s home when another parent knocked on the door with the sad news. My daughter, Gina Storey, immediately dissolved into tears and later spoke with others via phone who were also sobbing. She shared how special Mrs. Clark was. Last week was Teacher/Staff Apreciation week, and teachers’ doors were decorated. However, Mrs. Clark didn’t want time wasted decorating her door. From what I have heard of her, she was a dedicated, humble, and very loved teacher whose students were her life. What a terrible loss to Mayflower, and all I can think is that God obviously needed another Angel in Heaven! I pray for all those who mourn her sudden passing, because I know from my daughter’s tears the shock and sadness they musta also feel. I was impressed how, even though it was a weekend, staff and parents worked as a team to communicate the tragedy. This allowed the parents to be proactive in breaking the news to their children, some of whom have had no experience with death, before hearing it on Monday at school.
Oh Maggie!!! I am so sorry and so sad!! My thoughts are with ED. RIP with much love from an old friend and neighbor!
So now I want to know what happened – I can’t believe there is no other news on this… why did this happen? Who did this? Was it an accident? Was the driver of the pick up drunk or texting or WHAT? Why no word about the driver of that truck or what happened to him in the accident?
Karin..I read yesterday that the driver had been charged with drunk driving. This adds further pain to a horrible accident. When will people learn?
This message is for Karen, Karen please look at this link:
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_15075024
This will explain basically what happened. I was told that the official report of the accident will be realeased in about 2 wks, so we will have to wait.
I was the first ambulance on scene and immediately went to Maggie’s car… Janet was visibly upset…. However Maggie was next to the wreckage of what was left of her car… I remember seeing her face & my partner checking her pulse & knowing she was no longer with us… Fortunately we were able to help Janet who survived with a broken leg… The drunk driver was treated by firefighters… I do not know how he survived the wreckage of what was left of his Dodge Ram truck… All the emergency personnel smelled and saw the litter of alcohol cans in his truck… We treated him with all the respect we give all are patients however he did not deserve… My partner & myself can not stop thinking of this tragedy… As we did not know Maggie personally but we can see how many lives she touched… My deepest sympathies to her husband, family, children at Mayflower, and all those lives she touched in the short time she was with us…
He was not drunk, but he was under the influence of substance controlled.
I went to school at mayflower just last year. Although I did not have Ms. Clark, I remember her very well. She always opened her heart to all of the students. When I was in second grade, I used to clean Ms. Dunbar’s room. She used to give my friend and me stickers. Sometimes, we did the same for Ms. Clark- she gave us stickers too. I wish I could see her one more time. I will always remember her. She will be missed.
The men that killed her was released yesterday. That is not fair.
Dee,
Google it again, latest is the driver has been arrested and is in jail with bail set at $75,000. Maggie was a truly beautiful person inside and out; gentle, kind, thoughtful and bright. In 16 years I’ve never seen her mad or in a bad mood, she was as gentle as a deer, this is a true tragedy. My heart goes out to her husband and family, I can’t imagine their pain. I’m still in shock, it’s just wrong!
We need to push for those devices that require a breath before the car will start
Sadly Dee is correct, This man “James Cook” has been released. Ed confirmed this with my wife Tasha and I on Tuesday. The D.A. has clearly dropped the ball and needs to be made aware of this fact! Something about there not being enough evidence to hold him. How can our system release a man who was clearly under the influence of a substance (possibly meth), take a life, and then be released from jail. Our system is truly flawed. Period.
I knew Miss Clark very well. I was very happy when she made my little sister Jackie’s life really happy full of happiness. I loved her very much and my mom adored her because she is a very nice lady with happiness. A very special teacher full of happiness,peace,and love. She has also made my life happy too. Me and my family will miss her alot
My son was in her Kindergarten class last year and he was always telling me how much he wanted Maggie to be his teacher again.. He hated that he had to leave her class and go into the 1st grade and begged me to put him back in.. I volunteered in her class and and off last year and I cannot tell you how amazing she was with her students and my boys.. I saw her the week before this tragedy when I was dropping off my kids at the car line, I had my toddler son with me when I would volunteer.. She walked over to our car and noticed my toddler and said to him “I can’t wait to have you in my class Nicholas”!! I can still hear her saying that.. Our family is devastated! With love and sadness!
The Ponce Family
hi people who know maggie this is my first time doing this but iv known mrs.Clark since kinder loved her if you now she was really fun always happy never sad she was filled wit happieness and i always gave her a hug every time i saw her on campess i mess her but the day i herd i cried all my ters.
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I’m 26 years old & Mrs. Clark was my second grade teacher. I still remember her very well. She was an amazing educator & she was so compassionate. I still have a picture of us two together. I will never forget her. God bless her soul & her family.