SAUGUS — Saugus High School graduate Samantha Doherty remembers hugging drama teacher Nancy Lemoine on her last day of school last year.
As she made her way down the hallway on senior walk-out day, where seniors traditionally walk out of school on their last day, Doherty said she walked by room C-09 and saw Lemoine standing in the doorway.
“As soon as she saw me her eyes welled up with tears ”¦” said Doherty. “She held me and told me how proud she was of me for graduating and becoming the wonderful young woman I’ve become. Being in that moment with her made it all so real.”
Lemoine died April 18 after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer last summer. She spent this school year on leave as she tried to fight the disease.
Superintendent Richard Langlois said Monday that Lemoine was “well-respected” by the community for her passion for teaching and commitment to Saugus students. Langlois went on to say that for any student who had Lemoine, their lives “are a little bit better today” for having that opportunity.
“She represented everything you would expect from a teacher,” he said. “All the decency and commitment to the profession. She’ll be soundly missed. She was just such a big part of the school community. It’s been a long battle for her.”
Even as she was fighting cancer, Lemoine was a distinguished guest at last November’s New England Theater Conference convention in Natick, where she won the Leonidas A. Nickole Educator of the Year Award.
On Nov. 30, hundreds of friends, past and present drama club students and their families packed the Saugus High School auditorium for “Nan Through the Years,” a huge celebration and fundraiser to honor Lemoine. The night featured more than two dozen scenes and musical numbers from shows Lemoine had directed throughout her 25-year career.
Doherty, an English major at Bridgewater State University, said Monday she first met Lemoine when she was 7 and her older brother Joey was a member of the Drama Club.
“I just remembered growing up with Nan. I was like her little assistant,” she said. “I immediately joined Drama Club and chorus because I knew her for so long. I just remember all the times she was really there for me like all the times I needed to talk. She had the biggest heart and helped me make all the decisions and all my choices.”
Doherty said Lemoine helped her figure out what she wanted to do in life, which is following in her footsteps and becoming a teacher.
“I saw how many lives she touched and affected, and it just made me really follow my dream,” said Doherty.
Doherty, along with other former students, also took to Twitter to remember Lemoine.
“Nancy Lemoine you were an inspiration to us all. You will be greatly missed. I love you dearly. A truly amazing woman. Rest Easy my dear,” tweeted Doherty.
“I will never forget Nancy Lemoine. The things she has taught me will stay with me forever,” tweeted a former student.
“R.I.P. to one of my first mentors: my wonderful high school drama coach Nancy “Nan” Lemoine,” tweeted another former student.
Saugus resident Sherri Raftery first met Lemoine in 2004 during a rehearsal for the Theater Company of Saugus. Raftery said she has worked with her on numerous shows and Lemoine even casted her daughter Sabrina in “A Mid Summer Night’s Dream.”
Raftery was also a member of the Rumney Marsh Toastmaster’s Club with Lemoine, and credited her with giving her the encouragement to get her master’s in education from Endicott College.
“Everybody in theater and the performing community loved Nancy and knew Nancy,” said Raftery. “If you even needed a costume you could go to Saugus High School and borrow one ”¦ She was a teacher, mentor, a friend ”¦ There are so many things I could go on and on about.”
The wake for Lemoine will be on Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Bisbee-Porcella Funeral Home. The funeral will be on Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Cliftondale Congregational Church, where Lemoine used to conduct the choir. The graveside service will be at Woodlawn Cemetery, and the collation will be a luncheon at Spinelli’s, on Route 1 South in Lynnfield.
Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].
