VIDOR, Texas — The Vidor Independent School District is mourning the loss of longtime educator Lauren Shelton, who died Saturday after a brief illness. She was 66.

Shelton, who began her career in 1981 at Pine Forest Elementary, spent decades teaching and mentoring generations of students and teachers. Even after her retirement in 2011, she continued to serve the district as a substitute teacher before returning full time this school year at Vidor Elementary.

“Lauren Shelton was a well-known and valued educator in Vidor,” the district said in a statement, adding that she touched the lives of “countless students and teachers.”

Colleagues described Shelton as someone whose impact went beyond academics. “She was more than teaching books and numbers and reading, she was, she was loving stud

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