Paulette Fetzer

This morning, students at Loggers Run Middle School will hear their principal make an announcement that already has brought their teachers to tears.

Their friend and mentor Paulette Fetzer has died.

"I couldn't bring myself to do it today," Carol Blacharski, principal of the suburban Boca Raton school, said Monday. "It's going to be extremely hard. We're not going to see our friend again."

Mrs. Fetzer, of Delray Beach, was assistant principal of Loggers Run for 22 years and retired in 2006, around the same time she was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. She worked in the Palm Beach County and Broward County school systems for more than 38 years.

She was the wife of Delray Beach Vice Mayor Fred Fetzer. They were high school sweethearts, married and had two sons. The Fetzers were planning to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in December.

Mrs. Fetzer was diagnosed during her husband's campaign for the March 2006 election. Although he considered dropping out of the race, she made sure he didn't.

"She felt it was important that I keep doing what I was set out to do," he said. "She didn't want her illness to prevent me from doing that."

Mrs. Fetzer was 61, with dreams and goals of her own. Blacharski said Mrs. Fetzer didn't want to quit her job and that she worked up until the last few days before her major surgery on Valentine's Day of last year. They were friends for 18 years.

"She was totally dedicated to this school," Blacharski said.

"She put people back together after they got upset," the principal said. "When she was going to do a project, it was done meticulously. She was so young. So full of life."

She mentored the beginning teachers and taught them in a nurturing way. Other teachers admired her for her calm demeanor and her eye for fashion.

Even during lunch duty, Mrs. Fetzer was dressed to the nines.

Mrs. Fetzer liked to sew just as her mother did. She refinished furniture and loved to entertain during the holidays.

She had a knack for making people feel special and she always worried about others. Even up until the day she died.

"She gave me a to-do list," Fred Fetzer said. "One of the rods in the kitchen is loose. She has elderly relatives I promised her I would take care of. She knew she was dying and that's what she was worried about more was other people. She wasn't worried about herself."

A visitation will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Kraeer Funeral Home, 1353 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Spanish River Presbyterian Church, 2400 Yamato Road, Boca Raton.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her name to Spanish River Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund.