BENTONVILLE — The School District community has started 2014 off in mourning as it unexpectedly lost a longtime educator this weekend.

Fulbright Junior High School Principal Kathy Murry died Saturday. She was 59.

“We didn’t expect it at all,” said Galen Havner, human resources director for the district.

Murry was instrumental in opening Fulbright Junior High in August 2013, Havner said.

“She just really wanted to have a junior high that would stand above anything else,” he said. “She laid the groundwork for that to happen.”

Murry was the principal at Washington Junior High School before Fulbright Junior High opened, said Mary Ley, district director of communications.

Murry served the district for 27 years, 18 of which were in administrative positions, according to her obituary. She served as interim principal, associate principal and assistant principal at Bentonville High School and as the district mathematics curriculum coordinator in addition to being principal at Fulbright and Washington junior high schools.

Judy Marquess, district director of secondary instruction, knew Murry since Murry was hired by the district in 1986 and described Murry as intelligent, compassionate and hardworking. Murry’s contribution to education was huge, Marquess said.

“She was a great inspiration and was so professional with a good sense of humor,” Marquess said. “She had a good sense of vision of what kids could do and how to help them reach those goals.”

Murry’s focus on students will be her lasting legacy, former Bentonville teacher Lisa Tilmon said.

“It was always about the students,” Tilmon said, explaining that each decision Murry made and action she took was based on what was best for students.

Tilmon first met Murry when she was hired as a high school math teacher in 1993. She and Murry taught across the hall from each other.

“I was a little young thing, and she just helped me out,” Tilmon said. “Everything I learned I learned from her. She had a unique gift and very strong passion. She was gifted in being very present in whatever was in front of her. If you needed something, she was all in. She would listen. She was the most creative problem solver you’ve ever seen.”

Murry didn’t just make decisions by herself as a leader, Tilmon said. She involved her staff, who would brainstorm together, and Murry would then use collective ideas in making decisions.

“She didn’t just do it,” Tilmon said. “She involved all of us.”

Murry would guide her staff to right answers to their questions rather than just giving answers, Tilmon said.

“She never gave me an answer for anything. She would answer your question with a question,” Tilmon explained. “She had a way to prompt you to reflect, which is valuable in the (teaching) profession.”

District officials have spent the last two days making sure adequate support is available to Murry’s family, students, staff and others, Superintendent Michael Poore said.

There will be extra counselors at Fulbright Junior High, Washington Junior High and Bentonville High School when classes resume, he said.

There should be an interim principal chosen for Fulbright by the end of this week or early next week, according to Poore.

Murry graduated from Fayetteville High school and earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration and Master’s of Secondary Education from the University of Arkansas, according to her obituary.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church of Bentonville, 901 N.E. J St.