Family remembers Melissa Wright, Special Education teacher found murdered
By Shawn Chitnis
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DENVER (KCNC) — Family and friends gathered on Wednesday at Cherry Creek Reservoir to remember Melissa Wright, a Denver-area mother and educator killed Saturday in a shooting in Lowry. Loved ones say Wright was an exceptional teacher within the Cherry Creek School District.
“Warm, compassionate, she’s loving, friends with everyone, had a million best friends,” Wright’s daughter Morgan Bewcar told CBS4 on Wednesday. “This place was her favorite, every day that she could, this is where she would be.”
Bewcar was joined by her grandmother, Judy Wright, and two friends who knew Melissa as a teacher. They all spoke to the joy a sunny day along the beach would have brought Wright. She loved to travel and enjoyed the beaches in Mexico but also looked forward to spending time on the water closer to home.
“I can feel that she is here, she would love today,” Judy Wright said.
Her daughter was also an avid fan of the Green Bay Packers. While together along the beach, the family speculated about what Melissa might think of any possible trades between her team and the Denver Broncos.
“She’s the only person I know of that went to a Packers game and ended up in the owner’s booth and had a drink with his wife,” Wright said of her daughter.
A math teacher for students with severe educational disabilities at I-Team Manor, Melissa was named a Golden Heart Honoree earlier this year for her efforts to combine work-based learning and math in the form of a school-based business.
“Seeing the kids and watching them grow and watching them strive is really what she lived for,” said Caleb Avecilla, a fellow teacher. “She was truly a unique and special educator, someone I have never been around in my career before.”
Melissa’s mother and daughter have always taken pride in her accomplishments as a teacher. They will cherish the memories shared by her coworkers and students for a lifetime now that Wright is gone.
“It’s really nice knowing how many lives she touched, that we’ll have the stories from them to have live on her legacy forever,” Bewcar said.
The Denver Police Department announced an arrest of Eric Cobain in the shooting.
Melissa’s family has set up a GoFundMe account: gofundme.com/f/f4gc3-melissas-daughter?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=sms&utm_source=customer
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