Services Set For Peabody School Superintendent Cara Murtagh

PEABODY, MA —Peabody Public Schools Superintendnet Cara Murtagh, who died "suddenly and unexpectedly" Thursday night, will lie in repose in the Frank L. Wiggin Auditorium at Peabody City Hall Thursday, followed by her funeral at the auditorium on Friday. Peabody Public Schools will be closed on Friday so teachers, staff and students can attend service for Murtagh, 44. School committee member Joe Amico called Murtagh's death "a tremendous loss for our community" and called on the community to honor her by mirroring her ideals with acts of "love and generosity."

"Cara was more than superintendent of Peabody schools. She was a community leader. She helped people every day with her infectious positive attitude, especially kids," Amico said. "Most of what she did for people and kids was behind the scenes. She never looked for credit for her good deeds."

As if Murtagh's death wasn't enough for the district to deal with, word spread Sunday that Judith Maniatis, the assistant vice principal at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, had died that morning. "She was a wonderful educator and school administrator and her passing is a huge loss for our high school community," Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt told the Daily Item, which first reported Maniatis's death.

Amico said the school committee had made arrangements to have grief counselors on hand for students and staff dealing with the death of the two women. School officials signaled they would wait until after the women have been laid to rest to address filling their positions.

School committee member Beverly Griffin said Murtagh would "light up the room" whenever she arrived for a meeting or school event.

"She was a joyful person and loved what she did for students. She worked harder than anyone I know," Griffin said. "You couldn't help but be excited for the future when you heard Cara's plans for our schools. She was one of a kind, and will be terribly missed."

The public viewing for Murtagh will be from 3 to 8 p.m. at Wiggins Auditorium Thursday. Her funeral at 10 a.m. Friday in the auditorium will be followed by a burial service Cedar Grove Cemetery.

In addition to the school closing on Friday, Peabody Veterans Memorial High School will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Higgins Middle school at noon and all the elementary schools at 12:30 p.m. The parent conferences scheduled for the Higgins Middle School on Thursday will be postponed to a later date