Teacher Dies in Fire

Chicago Public School Teacher Dies in Fire
By Jim Vail

Kathleen Gomez, 48, beloved CPS teacher died in a fire this week.

When I got the news that Kathy Gomez, a CPS teacher, died on Monday in a fire in her building, I was stunned.

I knew Gomez because we taught together at Hammond Elementary School about 13 years when our school just added 8th grade. 

She was nice, strong and very dedicated to teaching. 

The papers say she was an ESL teacher at Gage Park High School and had planned to transfer to Roberto Clemente High School.

Gomez, 48,  had taught at a number of schools. She was a tough mujer on the SW Side who battled many administrations. She told me she worked at a school in Pilsen as the bilingual lead teacher.

Gomez kept you on your toes. She always challenged people around her, whether they wanted to be challenged or not. But she did with a sweet smile, over a hard interior.

She also enjoyed working in real estate and helped manage a building that her mother owned.

Our family at Hammond has lost yet another young teacher. 

We lost Celia Rivero, 31, our 5th grade bilingual teacher, then Orlando Rodriguez, 41, our 7th grade social studies teacher, and now Kathy Gomez, 48.

Rivero and Rodriguez lost their battles to cancer.

The papers reported that Gomez did not have a working smoke detector in her building. Guess what I just ordered?

This has happened before. The house in Little Village just down the street where six children died in a fire also did not have a working smoke detector. 

Residents told the TV news that they saw Gomez's lifeless body being removed from the building at 1800 S. Peoria in Pilsen in the early hours Monday.  

The firefighters said the blaze started in the living room and they are investigating the cause of the fire.

Gomez is another beloved teacher who left our world before her time. She was dedicated to her students and the world around her. She loved her faith and always had kind words and a warm personality.

I just kept thinking, Kathy was with us just a little while ago. And now she's gone.

May her beautiful memory live on. 

Services will be at Michael Coletta Funeral Home 544 W. 31st. The wake will be Friday, Feb. 8 from 3pm - 9pm and the funeral Saturday, Feb. 9 at 10am. 

CPS teacher Kathleen Gomez, 48, died in a fire early Monday morning in Pilsen.

GAGE PARK HIGH SCHOOL WEBSITE