Sahuaro mourns the loss of Mrs. Donna LaPorta, Exceptional Education Teacher Assistant, known for her amazing sense of humor and love for her daughter, grandchildren, and her dogs. Her family was her everything. She always proudly spoke of them, and she had many, many pictures of her children, husband, grandchildren, and dogs hanging around everywhere – on her desk, in her cabinets, she had mouse pads, and calendars, anywhere she could think of to have pictures of them. She stayed forever young with her love of Disney. Mrs. LaPorta passed away unexpectedly the day before Thanksgiving.

Mrs. LaPorta’s big personality will certainly be missed. She could often be described as sassy, caring, funny, dedicated, thoughtful and of course, loving. Many of her friends and close co-workers said that their favorite memories of her were her big personality and her dry sense of humor; if you didn’t know her, you wouldn’t know that she was joking. Mrs. Lloyd Leyva said, “She had the most sarcastic sense of humor that when people first met her, they couldn’t tell if she was joking, and so I always had to warn people…no, I swear she’s the nicest person on the planet, she’s just a big goofball.” One of her close friends, Ms. Paula said, “She was just an all-around nice person.” Mrs. LaPorta was truly passionate about the things she loved because that was her life. She and Ms. Paula were huge Cardinals fans. Ms. Paula said, “Every time I look at them, I will think of her.”

Another thing Mrs. LaPorta was known for was her car. It was a red Beetle, with magnets and stickers all over it. She was very particular with her parking spot in the Vicksburg lot, and she and Mrs. Stedman would often joke about it. Mrs. Stedman said, “If I got there before her, I wasn’t allowed to park in my spot because she needed to pull through for her spot, so that she could park in front of me so that she could leave before me, and pull out.” Mrs. LaPorta had many inside jokes with her co-workers and friends, and this was just a part of her personality.

Many of our fellow Cougars were her close friends, and she had a plethora of love for her students. Those who worked with her said she was a great team member, and she was always fun and easy to work with. She was always willing and ready to help out – that was her goal as soon as she got to school, to make everyone’s lives as easy as possible.

Mrs. LaPorta made such a great impact on those around her, was loved by so many, and will forever be missed.