CANFIELD Former chief of Columbiana schools dies

Patricia Hura worked in Valley schools since 1967.
CANFIELD -- Patricia Hura, a longtime educator at several Mahoning Valley school districts, has died of cancer.
A gathering that had been planned for today at the Maronite Center in Youngstown to honor Hura was canceled because of her death Friday night.
Hura, who has been Columbiana schools superintendent since January 2002, had been undergoing treatment for cancer. The Columbiana Board of Education accepted her retirement resignation Wednesday.
Canfield school officials had planned the event.
Dante Zambrini, superintendent of Canfield schools, said more than 300 people had already confirmed attendance for the event, and were contacted about the cancellation.
"We gave everyone the opportunity to have their check returned, but everyone told us, by all means, keep it," he said.
The money raised will still be used for its original intent, Zambrini said, which was to purchase books for the libraries of every school district in which Hura worked.
Because there will now be extra money, Zambrini said, it will be given to Hura's family to establish a scholarship fund in her honor.
Biographical
Hura lived in Canfield with her husband, Richard, a principal in the Newton Falls Schools. The couple have two grown children, both teachers.
She served three terms on the Canfield Board of Education -- including as vice president and president of the board -- and has been active in PTO and many other Canfield community organizations.
Hura took the Columbiana post after serving as the Trumbull Career and Technical Center's principal-director since 1999.
During her tenure as Columbiana superintendent, the district's pupils earned an excellent rating on the Ohio Department of Education's school district report card. Pupils met 21 of 22 standards required by the state.
The district report cards are based on proficiency tests taken by fourth-, sixth-, ninth- and 10th-grade pupils in citizenship, math, reading, writing and science. Districts are also evaluated on attendance and graduation rates.
Hura, a graduate of McDonald High School, had been a principal and teacher in the Mahoning Valley since 1967.