A teacher killed in the Texas school shooting was working two jobs to help pay for her terminally ill husband’s medical expenses, a relative said.
Cynthia Tisdale, 63, a substitute teacher at Santa Fe High School, also worked as a server at a local Italian restaurant chain to cover the costs of her husband, William’s, lung disease care, her brother-in-law told The Monitor.
“Since my brother has been very ill the last couple of years, she was a very excellent caregiver and she worked two jobs for extra income to help,” John Tisdale said.
The couple — who had been married for about 40 years — planned to move to the Rio Grande Valley as soon as Cynthia could retire.
“She was looking forward to retiring and just being a full-time granny or grandmother … that was really her life and joy,” Tisdale said.
The mom of four — who was working as a teacher’s aide in the arts complex where alleged 17-year-old shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis’ rampage started — was one of 10 people killed.
Before leaving for school Friday, she’d left a note for her family that read: “Had to go meet teacher. I love you. Hope you feel better today. Left you breakfast. Love, Mom,” according to an image posted by John Tisdale on Facebook.
“About two hours later, she was with Jesus Christ,” he wrote.
Her own son, Recie Tisdale, a League City police detective who was called to the scene, identified her and notified his family members of her death.
“Once the scene was somewhat secure I was contacted by my father who could not reach my mom,” he told WFAA. “I knew that two female teachers had been killed along with several students. Not long thereafter I determined that one of the teachers was probably my mother. It was very hard to go from assisting others to being horribly affected by this tragic event.”
Another of her sons, William Tisdale — who said his home was devastated in the Houston floods — has set up a GoFundMe account to pay for his dad’s medical expenses and for a stem cell treatment that may improve or prolong his life.
The family raised $31,850 as of Monday, and William Tisdale wrote how touched he was by the donations following his mother’s death.
“We are still in such disbelief that anything good can come out of such a horrific event…my mom always made good come out of bad situations though and this is no different for her. The amount of love and generosity our family and father is receiving is unimaginable,” he wrote on the fundraising page.