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Avon Park Teacher Dies From Sudden Illness

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Avon Park Middle School reading teacher Cindy Dwyer died suddenly.

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By MARC VALERO | Highlands Today

Published: March 19, 2009

AVON PARK - The Avon Park Middle School family is mourning the death of one of its own with the sudden passing of reading teacher Cynthia "Cindy" Dwyer.

Dwyer, 58, became ill at school Wednesday and was taken to Florida Hospital Heartland Division for treatment. Aeromed transported her to Tampa General Hospital, where she died from a massive stroke, her daughter and only child Meghan Dwyer said Thursday.

The school is "devastated" at the loss of an outstanding teacher who was admired by her students and respected by her peers, Principal Dan Johnson said Thursday. She was also a truly nice person, he added.

Reading teacher Tia Folsom said "It's very somber right now. I think everyone is just really in shock.

"One minute I'm sitting next to her at a faculty meeting, and the next minute, she had tears in her eyes asking me for an Excedrin."

The school's guidance counselors and a district office crisis intervention team have been offering grief counseling.

A lot of people have been making posters and writing poems about Dwyer so there are a lot of memories of her around the school, Folsom said.

Dwyer was born and raised in Kokomo, Ind., where Meghan grew up.

In Indiana, Dwyer was a middle and elementary school principal, reading specialist and a professor at Indiana University. She was named the state of Indiana's middle school principal of the year in 2003.

Meghan remembered that after she finished high school, her mother retired from the Indiana school system and picked up her life and started all over doing the things she always wanted to do in Florida.

Dwyer moved to Sebring around 2005, and along with teaching at Avon Park Middle, she started writing children's books.

She loved teaching people and she loved helping people who couldn't help themselves, Meghan said.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Donations, in lieu of flowers, can be made to the Cindy Dwyer Memorial Fund at Heartland National Bank. The donated money will be used for books and materials for Avon Park Middle School.

Highlands Today reporter Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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