Beaverton Teacher Had Just Returned To School When She Was Killed

BEAVERTON, OR — On Feb. 10, Mary Getty walked into her classroom at Jacob Wismer Elementary School in Beaverton. It was her first day back teaching fifth grade after being on leave.

Getty had been taking care of her mother, Ann Travers Butler, who died earlier in the month from cancer.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your WONDERFUL notes of sympathy for the loss of my mom," she wrote to the parents of her students the next day. "When I walked into class on Thursday, I was overwhelmed with the stunning flowers and cards and gifts!

"We truly have the most heartfelt class and I will always cherish each and every thing the students said and did and created and gave me. The entire shelf under the white board was covered with gifts and cards. I felt the love!!"

Two weeks later, on Feb. 24, someone was walking by Getty's home in the 4200 block of Northwest Oxbridge Road when they saw a woman on the porch right outside the front door. She's not moving, a passerby told 911.

Washington County sheriff's deputies arrived and determined that Getty had been shot and killed. Inside the home, they found her husband, Michael. She was 55; he was one year older.

The sheriff's office recovered a gun from beside Michael and said that Mary had been murdered and that Michael had killed himself.

The sheriff's office asks that anyone with information to call investigators at 503-846-2500.

On a website she made for students, Getty said that she went to elementary school and middle school in many places.

"My dad was in the Coast Guard, so we moved every 3-4 years," she wrote. "I went to schools in Michigan, Indiana, Alabama, Maryland, and Washington before I went to high school in North Carolina."

On the website, she wrote lovingly of her husband who, she says, was a financial analyst.

"He loves to cook gourmet meals and is a king of all trivia," she wrote, adding that he had been a finalist to get on "Jeopardy!" "He loves to work on our garden, and especially enjoys growing vegetables and tending to his roses."

Getty said that they would have celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary this year.

They had three children, two sons and a daughter. All three attended or attend Oregon State University.

Getty said that she was late to teaching.

"After college, I had many interesting jobs!" she wrote. "I was a student pilot with San Juan Airlines ... I was a florist and a sales associate with Nordstrom."

She was also a commercial insurance adjuster with Kemper.

After her first child was born, she said, she was a "stay at home mom" who volunteered regularly at her kids' schools. as well as places like Ronald McDonald House Charities.

She received her masters in teaching from Lewis & Clark College two weeks before her second child was born and joined Jacob Wismer as a third grade teacher n 2005. She had been there ever since.

Getty wrote excitedly about plans for the coming weeks with her students, telling parents that their kids will be working on "journalism writing" and will be putting out a school paper.

She told them how her class had spent some time wandering the school grounds and had already come with ideas for several feature stories.

Principal Laurie Huntwork sent a note to staff and parents letting them know that social workers were on hand to help students deal with the trauma of what happened.

In 2015, Getty was elected as a Royal Rosarian — an official greeter and ambassador for the city of Portland — and had been active in Rosarian activities. This year, she started serving on the Rosarians' Council.

Before that, she had been the Royal Gardener for the organization, overseeing the Portland Rose Festival Rose Garden Contest. She was also in charge of planting roses at all of the organization's official ceremonies.

"I always encourage students to go to the local parades and, if they should go, they should look for me," she wrote.

"I love to wave to friendly faces."