Her memory remains

Loving, hopeful, enthusiastic, nurturing and trusting.

Those were the words Justine Elizabeth Swartz Abshire’s family used to describe the young newlywed during a memorial service Monday at Emerald Hill Elementary School.

The 27-year-old kindergarten teacher was found dead on Taylorsville Road in Barboursville near the Greene County line on Nov. 3, 2006, according to Virginia State Police.
Special Agent Mike Jones said Justine’s homicide is still active and under investigation.

Her parents, Stephen and Heidi Swartz, led a somber ceremony to mark the second anniversary of their daughter’s untimely death.

During the 30-minute memorial, Heidi’s voice quivered as she read a quote from the book “Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul” to a captivated crowd.

“A teacher affects eternity,” Heidi said, quoting Henry Adams. “He or she can never tell where his or her influence ends.”

Wiping her eyes as the tears rolled down her cheeks, Heidi briefly paused and continued with her own words.

“We’ll never know about Justin’s circle of influence,” she said. “The special magic of a kindergarten teacher lives on in her students. She’s watching and cheering on her students and they feel her love and commitment.”

Nearly 70 parents, teachers and students gathered atop a grassy knoll near the maple tree that her family planted behind the school to honor Justine’s memory.

Purple and baby blue ribbons — with personal messages to Justine — fluttered in the gentle breeze as they hung from the newly planted tree’s branches.

Her home away from home
Standing next to Justine’s picture placed on a wooden easel, Stephen said his daughter had two loving families.

“We really feel fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to be here because this is a place where Justine was most at home,” said Stephen. “Apart from her biological family, I think this was her family.”

Justine’s younger sister, Lauren Swartz, echoed her father’s words.

“This was a place where she was very happy,” she said. “She had a community of support and she could accomplish her main goal here, which was to help people, show them love and teach and be a very important figure in kids’ lives.”

Apparently, she was.

Last year, Emerald Hill students, parents and teachers planted a colorful garden outside the kindergarten hall windows, creating a bouquet of cranberry, squash and eggplant-colored flowers for the beloved teacher.

A wooden bridge with the words “In memory of Justine Swartz Abshire, dedicated teacher,” sits near the kindergarten playground to remind people about the enthusiastic educator.

“There’s nothing that would have made her more proud than to be referred to as a dedicated teacher,” said Heidi.

Emerald Hill Principal Stacey Timmons — who began working at the school around the same time as Justine — remembers her as being a fun-loving and caring person.

“She was a very enthusiastic person especially with kids,” he said.

Wyatt Hartke, 7, one of Justine’s former students now in second-grade, said she was nice.

Another one of her students sobbed uncontrollably in the crowd when Stephen and Heidi began to talk about Justine.

Emerald Hill kindergarten teacher Pat Ammons — one of Justine’s mentors — talked about how the soft-spoken teacher interacted with her kids.

“I would come in her room when her kids were taking a nap and they would be crawling all over the floor,” she recalled. “The kids all loved her. She was just a sweet thing.”
After the ceremony, Stephen and Heidi Swartz led the crowd into the library.

That’s where her father and the principal unveiled a quilt made in Justine’s memory.

They hung the quilt — filled with 19 individually created squares on it — on the wall in the library.

Justine’s last kindergarten class made little squares decorated with rainbows, hearts and sunsets.

The library seemed like an appropriate place to display the avid reader’s memorial quilt.

Rhonda Simmons can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 125 or .