WATERLOO - A debilitating disease had taken its toll on Judy Fossell.

It landed the retired educator in the hospital for an extended stay. It temporarily robbed her of a voice. It forced her to resign from Waterloo Community Schools' Board of Education.

But friends say they always expected Fossell to recover.

"She had a great desire to live," said retired teacher Angie Glazebrook, who had known Fossell since they were both in college.

"She was a very dedicated individual and was also very unwilling to give up," said Jean Seeland, a Lou Henry Elementary School teacher. "She was a fighter to the end."

That end came Monday afternoon when the 66-year-old died following a five-year struggle with myasthenia gravis. The disease, caused by a defect in the transmission of nerve impulses to muscles, affected her larynx and trachea.

Complications that sent Fossell to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for 72 days had rendered her unable to speak in spite of a tracheotomy several years ago. She had regained her speaking ability in recent days.

"On Sunday, we had a lovely conversation," Seeland said. "She had just got a new trachea (tube) that allowed her to talk."

After the long hospital stay, Fossell continued having difficulties recovering. She returned to the hospital and then checked into Windsor Nursing & Rehab Center in Cedar Falls, where friends said she stayed for about three weeks.

Still, they believed she would eventually be back in her own home and able to enjoy activities with them like shopping or going to movies.

"She had goals to get back into her normal routines," said retired teacher Marcy Hartleip, another friend who has known Fossell since college.

"To me, it was a shock," Glazebrook said, when she learned Fossell had died.

Fossell had a 37-year career as a teacher and principal with the school district. She became Orange Elementary School's principal in 1993 and remained in the position until retiring in 2001. Two years later, she ran for and won an at-large seat on the Board of Education, not long before being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. She was re-elected in 2006 and resigned in October.

"She was a fantastic teacher, and she was a fantastic administrator," board member Pam Miller said. "She really loved kids and really cared about education. She was the epitome of what an educator should be."

"She was the best child advocate I knew," Glazebrook added.

"I think the hardest thing that Judy had to do was retire from the school board," Hartleip said.

Fossell asked her to help write the resignation letter.

"She cried, that was so difficult," Hartleip said.

She said Fossell "has really been so involved and connected" in the community. Fossell was a member of Waterloo's planning and zoning commission, the Grin and Grow day-care board and the Cedar Valley's Promise elementary education task force.

In the past, she was on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Family & Children's Council.

"She was always thinking of other people," Hartleip said. "I think the most important thing in her life, though, was her family and her students."

Fossell is survived by two siblings, Gene and Jane Dubberke, both of Hubbard, and three nieces and a nephew. Visitation is 2 to 7 p.m. Friday at Locke Funeral Home. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Grace Lutheran Church.

Contact Andrew Wind

at (319) 291-1507 or

andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.