Apalachee High School math teacher Cristina Irimie was celebrating her birthday with her students the day she and three others were shot and killed in Wednesday’s mass shooting.
“She decided to bake a cake and bring pizza to her class on the anniversary of her death so she could celebrate her birthday with her children,” grieving friend Corneliu Caprar told CNN.
Irimie and her husband could not have children of their own, so she considered her students her children, the friend said.
The Romanian-born educator had already turned 53 in August.
The other teacher killed that day, Richard Aspinwall, was shot as he left his classroom to see what was going on, a family friend told the news agency.
Some of his students ripped off their shirts to try to stop the bleeding after he was hit, she said.
“His students pulled Ricky back into the classroom and used their own shirts to try to stop the bleeding and save him,” said friend Julie Woodson.
“If he hadn’t gone out and taken the bullet … who knows what would have happened.”
Woodson added that Aspinall’s family wants the world to know: “Ricky was their center and he died a hero trying to save the lives of his students.”
Friends of Irimie, who immigrated to the United States over 20 years ago, said she was known for her smile, her lively personality and her passion for teaching – which for her was not just a job but a calling.
“The first thing you notice is her big smile. She was always smiling,” Father Nicolae Clempus, pastor of St. Mary’s Romanian Orthodox Church in Dacula, told Fox 5 Atlanta.
Clempus said Irimie’s husband is privately mourning the loss of his beloved wife.
“He is definitely devastated and heartbroken. They were together the whole time and had a very beautiful and lovely family life,” the priest said.
“Such a tragedy defies logic,” he said of her senseless death, but added that she will live on in the hearts of her church family and others who knew her.
“We see her as a hero. Someone we will remember and who will be a role model for our generations.”
