Teacher's spirit of caring touched many lives

Cathy Mansfield carried a few scars from her profession. Sometimes the emotionally disabled pupils at her school went beyond the cussing and screaming. They kicked and bit and clawed.

She endured their tirades and managed to calm them. She could have taught in a regular classroom, but these children needed her. They needed someone patient and kind and understanding, who could get the most from them despite an array of roadblocks.

Her husband, Declan, figured it had something to do with her own disabilities. She was born with but one good eye and virtually deaf, not that you would know it. She wore hearing aids, learned to read lips.

While studying at Florida State University, Cathy accepted an internship that called for her to live during the week at a mental facility. She learned all about the special challenges and still pursued a profession where heartbreak routinely outmuscles accomplishment.

She mastered her craft, mainly through the last 21 years in Pasco County schools. She earned advanced degrees and certifications. She earned respect from her peers, and not just for her work with the kids. She was a stitch — funny and irreverent. Her confidence and experience gave her license to ignore foolish mandates. She would just close her door and teach.

Some of those touched most by her talents crammed into Michels-Lundquist Funeral Home in New Port Richey on Tuesday evening. They got in line and inched forward for more than an hour just for the chance to shake Declan's hand and tell him what a difference she made in their lives.

Hundreds of others joined in that slow, sad procession — educators who had worked with her; young men and women who attended Ridgewood High with the three Mansfield kids, Patrick, Catie and Michael; Declan's fellow lawyers.

Cathy had been fine just a few weeks earlier. She and Declan had flown to Seattle, rented a car and made their way along the Pacific coast, stopping in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. They visited with their son, Michael, who is with the U.S. Border Patrol in El Centro.

Cathy returned to work for the summer school session at Longleaf Elementary in Trinity. Two days later, on June 22, she was driving to school when intense headaches forced her to pull off the road. Doctors admitted her to Regional Medical Center at Bayonet Point. On July 2, she was discharged. It was Declan's 60th birthday. She had planned a surprise party. But after only an hour at home, she suffered more extreme headaches and Declan called 911. After several more days in the hospital, she was released again, only to suffer another attack. This time, she wound up in the neuro intensive care unit at Northside Hospital in Pinellas Park. She had suffered a stroke. The family gathered one last time, and in the early hours of July 9, she died at age 56.

At St. James the Apostle Catholic Church on Wednesday, the Rev. Michael Cormier looked out over the sea of mourners and remarked that there had only been a few other funeral Masses in the centrum during the church's 20 years. Usually, the chapel is plenty large. It holds 200.

The priest recognized the significance of such a turnout, the depth of the roots this family put down, their impact on the community.

"Cathy got it right,'' he said.