Heartbreaking News: Sumner County Teacher Dies in Holiday Accident

By Dhivya Easwarasamy Last updated Dec 30, 2023

Heartbreaking News Sumner County Teacher Dies in Holiday Accident

An accident that occurred over the holidays claimed the life of a well-liked educator in the county of Sumner, according to officials at the school.

According to a post on Facebook posted by Allen Lancaster, a member of the Sumner County School Board, Jeanette Gutzman, a language arts teacher at T. W. Hunter Middle School, was killed in a collision while she was in Knoxville visiting her family.

‘Beloved’ Sumner County teacher dies in crash during holidays:

#NEW: ‘Beloved’ Sumner County teacher dies in crash during holidays https://t.co/wNjRzfFhF0

— WSMV 4 Nashville (@WSMV) December 29, 2023

After working at the school for more than 25 years, Lancaster stated that she was well-liked by her students and colleagues as a lifelong educator.

“My condolences and prayers to her family and friends and to the staff that was her extended family at Hunter,” Lancaster wrote. “Be in prayer for her students, both past and present, whose lives she touched both in the classroom and outside of it. She will be deeply missed by so many!”

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On Facebook, the T. W. Hunter Middle School paid tribute to Gutzman by posting a few of photographs of her smiling alongside members of the faculty and staff.

“To lose someone you love is never easy, no matter the circumstances, but even harder when unexpected and at the holiday,” the nonprofit wrote on Facebook. “TW Hunter is more than a school. It is a special place of community, of family, of teachers & faculty that are more than staff…they are friends. We grieve together.”