Friends to remember teacher, 25, who died in class

MARION, Iowa — Friends and family are expected to gather to remember a 25-year-old teacher from Iowa who was found dead in her western Illinois classroom Monday.

A visitation for Sarah Knight is scheduled for Friday starting at 4 p.m. at Murdoch Funeral Home in Marion, where Knight grew up and where her parents still live.

Knight was a bilingual kindergarten teacher at Hillcrest Elementary School in East Moline, where a custodian found her unresponsive in her classroom on Monday evening. Autopsy results were inconclusive and her obituary says she died unexpectedly of natural causes.

Her family is remembering her as a bright young woman who was passionate about teaching. She graduated from Western Illinois University in 2009.

A celebration of her life is scheduled for Saturday at First Presbyterian Church in Marion.