Dodgen Middle School Teacher Drowns in Atlantic Ocean: Report

EAST COBB, GA -- A Cobb County teacher has died while vacationing in Florida, Patch has learned.

Mary Barkley was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday when she was caught up in a rip tide, according to news reports, including WSB-TV, which cites a school letter sent to parents.

Barkley taught seventh-grade life sciences at Dodgen Middle School on Bill Murdock Road in Marietta.

Dodgen Principal Loralee Hill said Barkley will be "greatly" missed. “Mary loved her students and the Dodgen community," Hill was quoted as saying.

The letter to parents, posted late Tuesday on Facebook by WSB-TV's Ross Cavitt, says that Barkley touched the lives of many students in her 16 years at the school:

"While swimming in the ocean, it appears she was caught in a riptide. Mary touched many of our students and faculty with her bright smile that always lifted everyone’s day. She was a phenomenal teacher and had a passion for science. ... Mary was an organ donor and through her generosity and thoughtfulness saved two lives."

Barkley's sister, Emilie Coons Cook, also posted on Facebook about the incident, saying that the loss is especially hard for the couple's six children.

"You will never meet a stronger person. No one is more loving, kind, or forgiving. I'm heart and soul broken. If I live a hundred years I'll never comprehend this. I cannot begin to express the depth of our loss. Of the worlds loss. Of her families loss," Cook wrote. "Tonight, she will give the gift of life to strangers. I'm trying to find comfort in that. It's hard. I'm so deeply sad. And I'm crying out for understanding and a miracle. Please keep her husband, Paul in your thoughts and prayers and their six children. I'm breaking."

The school is asking educators to be on the lookout for students suffering from grief this week, according to WSB.

Image via Facebook / Ross Cavitt