Hundreds Attend Funeral For Teacher

The sanctuary of St. Pius Catholic Church was overflowing with hundreds of mourners and flowers at the funeral mass Thursday for Leona “Lee” Caires.

Caires was shot and killed last week in Frontier Junior High School in Moses Lake where she taught math.

Caires had volunteered in the Coeur d’Alene schools, taught as a substitute and was an instructor at North Idaho College’s learning center before taking a teaching job two years ago in Moses Lake.

She and her husband spent every weekend in Coeur d’Alene and raised four children here.

The Coeur d’Alene School District hired about 20 substitute teachers and found many more volunteers to cover classes for teachers who wished to attend the mass, said Superintendent Doug Cresswell.

School counselors, parents, principals and even Idaho State Board of Education member Judith Meyer volunteered to fill in for teachers attending the mass.

, DataTimes