ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A solemn end to the week for staff and students at School No. 22 in Rochester.

Judith Purdy, a veteran educator with RCSD was killed in a car crash in Le Roy Thursday morning.

President of the Rochester Teachers Association — the union for RCSD teachers — Adam Urbanski, said all of the teachers are hurting, after this “heartbreaking tragedy.”

Urbanski said she was an intervention teacher, meaning she worked with some of the youngest students in the students who have additional needs.

He called her role some of “the hardest work,” and said that not only was she an accomplished teacher, but treated everyone with love.

“We will remember her as an exemplary colleague, and I know the memory of her will be a blessing for everyone who was fortunate enough to know her,” he said. “She treated everyone like family, and everyone who crossed paths with her felt the love, so yes, she had a lot of loved ones in her life.”