OGDEN, Utah (ABC4 News) Diane Pugmire was in class teaching mathematics on Monday, but she didn't feel well. On Tuesday, she called her friend and told her to fill in for her. Pugmire died on Wednesday. Her family says it was from bacterial pneumonia with complications from the H1N1 virus. She was 52 years old.
Dale Ostlie, her boss at Weber State, said "it's hard to beleive that someone that healthy, that vibrant, is gone in just a short period of time." Her colleagues say she wasn't sick until Monday and they it happened so fast. Dixie Blackinton was Pugmires closest professional friend, "Diane touched a lot of lives, and that's coming to light now. I can't tell you how many thousands of students she put on the road to understanding mathematics. They all love her, everyone of them."
In the tiny faculty office in Building A at Weber State, students were dropping by on Friday signing two large, colored posters. These messages will be displayed at Pugmires funeral on Monday. Lyndee Bent was there with tears in her eyes, "you know I have heard so many people joke about it (the swine flu), whatever it's not that big of a deal and then it hits and you can't take anything lightly." This is what Bent wrote on that poster for her favorite teacher:
Diane,
You inspired me to be better and to reach higher.
You made me believe in myself.
I will never forget you.
Lyndee Bent
Her funeral is Monday at the Riverdale Stake Center, 4000 Parker Drive.
Send messages to the family at
dianepugmire@gmail.com.
