'She cared for people and people loved her:' Longtime Lorain educator remembered after sudden death last month

LORAIN – A longtime Lorain educator died suddenly late last month. Sandra Peloquin, 59, of Elyria Township, died unexpectedly Dec. 27, 2025. She was a longtime English Language teacher at Lorain Schools and spent more than 25 years in the district before her retirement in June 2025. The district announced her death in a social media post last week, with Superintendent Jeff Graham calling her a "truly beautiful soul, tireless advocate and voice of reason for our students and their families." Outside the classrooms at Lorain High or one of the district's elementary schools, she was remembered by her colleagues as a woman who went above and beyond for her students and their families. School Board member Courtney Nazario remembered Peloquin brought Nazario's daughter flowers at graduation last year, and would gather blankets and food for families in need in the district. She was an outspoken opponent of House Bill 70, the legislation that placed Lorain, Youngstown and East Cleveland schools under state control, as well as other state bills that sought to hamper public education – which was how she met Nazario. "Even during House Bill 70 or recently when she went to a Board Meeting and got up to speak, she never got upset, she never raised her voice," Nazario said. "She was an advocate for everybody … she was firm, but always calm and got her point across positively." Nazario was not on the Board of Education during Lorain's time under state purview, but attended town halls and board meetings with Peloquin. "That's how I became friends with her – she was just at everything," she said. The friendship carried on, with Peloquin always there to offer an encouraging word or send a quick text wishing Nazario and her daughters well. Paraprofessional Naomi Loera worked with Peloquin for the past decade, but said her husband knew the family for years prior. "It feels like we're going to wake up and she's going to be there," Loera said of the community's unexpected loss. "... I just can't believe it." Loera called Peloquin a "magnet" for students, noting even when kids graduated from the district, they kept in contact with the longtime educator and would run up to her at Walmart or elsewhere in the city to give her a hug. In 2021, Peloquin's inability to say "no" to all the graduations, basketball games, wrestling matches and other invites went to another level when she was the officiant for the wedding of two of her former students. Yalexis Acevedo and Angel Alvarez, class of 2020 grads who met in Peloquin's class, asked her to officiate their wedding, Loera said. "She was always part of their lives," Loera said. "She kept in contact with the kids … and she could never say 'no' to somebody." Loera continued, "She was a great person, she didn't have a mean bone in her. She cared for kids, she cared for people and people loved her." Penny Shreve, now a fourth-grade teacher at Hawthorne Elementary School, met Peloquin in 2001 when the pair shared a class at Masson Elementary. Masson Elementary closed in 2012. It was through their time in the classroom the pair found out they were actually cousins, Shreve said. Shreve explained that her mother and Peloquin's father are siblings, but Shreve's mother died when she was young and they had little contact with her side of the family. As coworkers, she and Peloquin started talking and Peloquin found birth announcements that Shreve's mother had sent her years ago. The more the pair talked, the more they found they had in common, the cousin said. "She wasn't just family, she was a great friend," Shreve said, adding they talked several times a week until Peloquin's untimely death. When the pair taught at Masson Elementary, Shreve said teaching English language learners was always in Peloquin's mind, and she embraced her calling at Lorain High some years later. In announcing her death, the district noted Peloquin's passion came from her family's own struggles. "Her mother, a Lorain Schools graduate, had once been punished for not speaking English as a child," it stated. "Sandra carried that history with her and made it her life's work to ensure no student in her classroom ever felt ashamed of who they were or where they came from." Peloquin was also a member of UnidosUS, the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, where she advocated for students on Capitol Hill, according to Lorain Schools. Blessing House, Lorain County's children's crisis care center, recognized her as a hero for children during a 2022 luncheon. In her letter nominating Peloquin for the award, former School Board member Barbie Washington lauded her longtime friend's role as an advocate for students in Lorain and beyond, including teaching at immigration detention camps in El Paso, Texas. She helped her students obtain U.S. citizenship and attend college, Washington wrote, and was active in her church, the local teacher's union and other organizations. At the time of her death, Peloquin still taught English as a second language at Lorain County Community College's Aspire Program. Prior to teaching in Lorain, she worked in Cleveland Metropolitan Schools for several years. She leaves behind her husband and two adult daughters. Funeral arrangements were not immediately available on Saturday. "If everybody could just be a little bit like her, the world would be a better place," Nazario said. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.