Kirkland School Mourns 2 Teachers -- Sudden Deaths Shock Pupils, Other Staffers

KIRKLAND - School opened this week at A.G. Bell Elementary without Kari Weston's bounding energy - the 31-year-old teacher died hours before she was to welcome her new fifth- and sixth-graders.

Missing, too, was Darlene Rundberg, another popular fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Bell whose life ended days before she was to reopen her classroom.

Both women were on the same teaching team at the north Kirkland school. A lung clot killed Weston on Monday, according to the King County medical examiner's office. Rundberg, 53, died Aug. 26, weeks after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, her husband said.

More than a dozen school psychologists and counselors were on campus when school opened Tuesday, and a team will be at the school through next week to support grieving pupils and staff.

"We tried to notify as many people as we could before they went into the classroom and found out they had substitutes," said Dan Youmans, spokesman for the Lake Washington School District. "It was very difficult, because normally the first day of school is a day of celebration, an exciting time. This week is a week of mourning."

Lake Washington officials were shocked to learn of Rundberg's death but had time to inform her pupils and the parents who were close to her, Youmans said. Word of Weston's death did not reach the school until the morning children were to arrive. Staffers called parents early in the morning or met them at the gate to tell them

the news.

The deaths hit particularly hard because both women taught combination classes. Many of their sixth-graders had been in their classes last year as fifth-graders.

"This is a very hard process for teachers and for families and kids," said Karen Bates, associate superintendent at Lake Washington, who knew both women.

Weston grew up in the district. A graduate of Lake Washington High School, she was an athlete who later coached track there. She earned a master's degree from Seattle Pacific University and had been teaching at Bell Elementary for four years.

Still describing her in the present tense at times, Bates said: "She's the kind of person who is always there when you need her. Every single child knew that she had his or her best interests in her heart. She was there to see every youngster succeeded."

Weston is survived by her parents, Larry and Sharon Weston of Bellevue, and a brother, David Weston.

Rundberg, who formerly taught gifted students, was a teacher for more than 25 years and had been at Bell for two years. She was a voracious reader of books, furthered restoration of Forbes Creek wetlands and was a leader in the district's writing program. She had trained many of the district's teachers.

It was her calming spirit, however, that made the greatest impression, Bates said: "It was like she could carry the weight of the world on her shoulders and never show it."

Rundberg is survived by her husband, John, of Seattle, and four children, Ben, Greg, Rosalind and Matthew.

Counselors and psychologists at Bell have visited classrooms to talk with pupils about the teachers' deaths. "Some children are just beginning to ask questions," Bates said. "Everybody is still dealing with these issues."

-------------------------------------------------. Services and remembrances.

A service for teacher Darlene Rundberg will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow at the Church of the Religious Science in Seattle, 5801 Sand Point Way N.E. The Rundberg family requests that remembrances go to St. Vincent Hospital Medical Foundation, ICU or Patient Family Housing Center, 9205 S.W. Barnes Road, Portland, OR 97225.

A memorial service for Kari Weston is at 4 p.m. today at Kirkland Congregational Church. Remembrances may be sent to the Kari L. Weston Memorial Fund, Interwest Savings Bank, 16424 N.E. 79th St., Redmond, WA 98052, Attention: Vinnie.