Stucky Middle School celebrates life of late drama teacher
Stucky Middle School’s auditorium was overflowing Sunday as family, friends, students and faculty said goodbye to a beloved teacher.
Those attending wore orange, because it was Lindsay Crump Perez’s favorite color.
Former students sang and told stories about Mrs. Perez, the 35-year-old drama coach at Stucky Middle School who died unexpectedly last week after complications following the birth of her first child, Zander Perez.
“In the words of Lindsay Perez, ‘Welcome to Loserville, Population, You!’ This was a common phrase in her classroom and she would also replace the word ‘Loser’ with ‘Idiot’ or ‘Stupid’ depending on her mood,” said former student Isabel Schulte to knowing giggles from Sunday’s audience. “In Crump’s classroom it wasn’t a rare occasion to be yelled at or to even have objects such as a marker or sometimes a stapler thrown at you. Oftentimes you didn’t have to do anything wrong, you could have just looked at her funny or worn a shirt she thought was ugly. However, everything she did was out of love.”
They told stories of an enthusiastic soul who embraced life with passion and the moving powers of drama. Her celebration of life service program was like one for a performance, with “Playbill” splashed across the front and the title “You Can’t Stop The Beat,” accompanied by a picture of Mrs. Perez and her husband, Edgar Perez-Valverde.
“While there are countless things you could say about Lindsay, the most obvious was her love for theater and compassion for students,” said Austin Abney, pastor of Revolution Church. “Lindsay lived her life with a sense of adventure. If you knew Lindsay, everything was an adventure. … She was able to build deep and meaningful, long lasting relationships, even as far back as grade school. She was a hard worker who never quit. … We celebrate a woman who made life worth living. We celebrate the moments where Lindsay’s moments intersected ours, have been and will continue to be shaped by how Ms. Perez lived out her story.”
Two years ago, Abney said, Mrs. Perez provided lighting and sound for the church.
“The person who met us at the door with a big smile and lots of attitude was Lindsay,” Abney said. “Lindsay was an intricate part in what we did in partnership with Stucky Middle School. The role she had could have been a simple one – come in, sit down, turn on the projector, make sure we don’t catch the place on fire. But if you know Lindsay, you know simple wasn’t her thing. So right off the bat, Lindsay began maximizing everything we did. She was always adjusting lighting, bringing up technical issues. She made every Sunday morning at our church gathering an incredible experience.”
Mrs. Perez’s parents, Patricia Cahill and Randy Crump, spoke to the audience and brought them to laughter.
“I’m Linday’s father. … The first time I met her was Feb. 13, 1980, at Wesley Hospital,” Crump said.
“I’m the mother,” Cahill said. “And I was there, too!”
During the hour-long celebration of life service the Heights High School Choir sang songs from “Wicked,” “Annie,” “Shrek” and “Hairspray.”
This story was originally published October 18, 2015 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Stucky Middle School celebrates life of late drama teacher."