Professor Julie Mary Coppola is remembered by her colleagues in the School of Education for her devotion to the SED community and to Boston’s public schools, where she worked with English-language learners and teachers. Coppola (SED’97), a clinical associate professor of education and the program coordinator of bilingual education, died on October 6, 2014. She was 58.

In the days that followed her passing, friends and colleagues penned many tributes, none more poignant than the remarks of remembrance written by her children, Ann and Matthew, and read at their mother’s funeral Mass:

We’ve been trying to think of a way to honor someone like our mother who did so much and touched so many people. Our mother truly was a light on this earth. We wanted to share with you today how she lived her life and what was important to her.

Family was important to our mother. Julie Mary Coppola was born on October 11, 1955, to Patrick and Patricia O’Sullivan. She was the eldest of eight brothers and sisters. Mom made sure that family was a huge part of our lives growing up. We have so many wonderful family-filled memories, thanks to our mom.

Work was important to our mother. Julie worked so hard for every one of her accomplishments. She earned degrees from the University of Massachusetts and Georgetown University, and a doctorate from Boston University.

Julie was always a teacher: at home, in the classroom, and through her research. She was an associate professor at Boston University School of Education, specializing in teaching methods for students who are learning English as a second language. She published a textbook on literacy and language acquisition.

Julie also worked as a consultant in the Boston Public Schools, helping teachers and students to thrive in some of the city’s most vulnerable and challenging classroom environments. She loved the students. Julie was a champion for celebrating the cultural differences that influence how we learn, and for giving every student an opportunity to succeed through education.

Like her children, Coppola’s colleagues appreciated her dedication to family and work. When SED was restructured, Coppola was elected faculty director for language and literacy education and, subsequently, chair of the Academic Cluster Council. Both leadership roles were emblematic of her colleagues’ respect for her work and her commitment to the SED community.

Bruce Bucci, director of the Programs in Deaf Studies, offered a tribute that echoes her children’s remarks: “Julie made our cluster a family.”

John McCarthy, a clinical assistant professor at SED, with whom Coppola worked at Boston English High School, remembers her work with faculty and students throughout the years. “Her commitment to improving instruction and creating a productive school climate for English-language learners was unwavering,” he says. “Julie found joy in connecting to the students at the high school and was a model of poise and grace for her students at Boston University.”

SED Dean Hardin L. K. Coleman expressed the appreciation of the school’s community. “At SED, we seek to create an inspired union between teaching, research, and service. Julie’s professional work brought that union to life and, through her leadership in the school, helped all of us to become better at serving our students and our profession. I will miss her spirit and I will miss working with her.”

The family, friends, and colleagues who revere Coppola’s memory are joined in gratitude for her life, leadership, and spirit, described in the profound words of her husband, Robert, who writes his wife’s legacy is “about tireless commitment to teaching and students, about social justice and our responsibility to students who struggle to make their way in school and life, and that we are required to enjoy our work, no matter how difficult.

“It is about Julie’s spirit and her standard of excellence that was close to unreachable, and that she asked nothing of us that she did not ask of herself.”

Lee Indrisano is a professor in the School of Education and the editor of the Journal of Education.