COVID-19 claims longtime teacher and her brothers, Turlock school district reports
A beloved longtime teacher at a Turlock elementary school died Saturday, reportedly from COVID-19 complications.
Countless relatives, friends, colleagues, former students and their families are mourning Lilly Barron. Among them is Esme Alvarez, who wrote on Facebook, “Rest In Peace, Señora Barrón. Thank you for being one of the teachers that had the greatest impact in my life.”
Barron, 66, taught at Osborn Two-Way Immersion Academy but fell ill in July and had not started the new school year, her principal told The Bee. She died Saturday morning at Mercy Medical Center in Merced.
Turlock Unified School District was informed about Barron’s illness and that the teacher’s mother and two brothers also contracted COVID-19, district spokeswoman Marie Russell said. “Her two brothers have died as a result of complications from the coronavirus,” Russell said in an email, “but last I heard, their 92 year old mother was recovering.”
Citing medical privacy law, a Merced County spokesman said Monday that he could not confirm Lilly Barron’s death was related to COVID-19.
In a Facebook post announcing her death, TUSD said, “Lilly and several of her family members fell ill after Father’s Day,” suggesting a family get-together may have spread the disease. Captioning a photo she posted May 23 on her own page, Barron said, “Wearing my Barrón Family Reunion T-shirt! This would have been the day of our reunion, had it not been canceled due to the current health situation. Love my cousins, I miss you all.”
Barron was at Osborn for over 30 years, nearly the entirety of her career. She was one of the founders of its dual immersion program, which works to ensure students achieve linguistic proficiency in English and Spanish while excelling academically.
“Lilly had deep roots in the world of dual language education,” Osborn Principal Ed Ewing said in an email to The Bee. “She was one of a few teachers who spearheaded a movement in the early 1990s to research two-way bilingual immersion education and begin the program at Osborn School. As such, she was respected by her colleagues at Osborn and by parents who desired immersion education for their children.”
Ewing, whose two sons had Barron as their fourth-grade teacher, called her a fierce advocate and protector of the program. “I also taught fourth grade next door to Lilly for six years and found her to be a generous and collaborative colleague.”
Barron was a leader, often volunteering on district-level and school committees on topics including curriculum adoptions and instructional practices, Ewing said. She was very knowledgeable on research supporting dual immersion education and worked tirelessly to ensure Osborn was properly implementing core practices.
Teacher remembered as ‘a warrior and an advocate’
Barron had received the Teacher of the Year Award from the Association of Two-Way & Dual Language Education. In a statement shared by Osborn Academy on its Facebook page, ATDLE Executive Director Rosa Molina said Barron “was always a warrior and an advocate for children in your community. An amazing educator — so hardworking, such an expert in her craft. But even more important, a wonderful person, such a good woman.”
Those sentiments were echoed across social media by scores of people when they learned of Barron’s death.
“She taught my sister, all three of my brothers and more recently my son two years ago. She was an amazing teacher and will definitely be missed,” Gisela Angel commented on Osborn Academy’s post.
‘Her heart was huge and her efforts, tremendous’
Several of Barron’s colleagues remembered her in comments included in the TUSD weekly update that went out Monday. District Superintendent Dana Trevethan, wrote, in part, “I am so sad to lose Lilly. She has been an icon at Osborn for so long that I cannot imagine the campus, her classroom, without her. I have always appreciated her candor, professionalism and humanistic approach in working to find solutions that had a huge impact on students. ... Her heart was huge and her efforts, tremendous.”
And Russell, whose three daughters were taught by Barron, wrote, “She once shared with me how much she loved Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Canciones de Mi Padre’ and that she played it so much, the album wore out. I purchased and played it all weekend in her honor.”
The Barron family could not be reached for comment, but several people shared on Facebook that in memory of Barron, the family asked that any donations be made to the Osborn Alumni Scholarship Fund.
Ewing said checks may be made out to “Osborn Alumni Scholarship Fund” and sent to Osborn Two-Way Immersion Academy at 201 N. Soderquist Road, Turlock, CA 95380.
