Salem Public Schools Mourn Death Of Former Principal

SALEM, MA — The Salem Public Schools community is mourning former teacher and principal Ana Maria Hanton, who died unexpectedly Monday in Sarasota, Florida. She was 77.

Hanton was the assistant principal at Collins Middle School from 1999 to 2006 and then the principal at Nathaniel Bowditch School from 2006 to 2010.

"The SPS community sends our love and sympathy to her husband, Kyle, and daughter, Maria," the district said in sharing Hanton's death with the school community.

A native of Argentina, Hanton was a teacher, administrator and activist who "tackled every cause she believed to be right, and true, being an advocate for her students, a sounding board for her peers, and an inspiration to everyone who met her," according to her obituary.

After retiring from Salem Public Schools, she became an activist fighting for the rights of the Latinx community.

"It was her passion for justice and equality, for her students and fellow immigrant, that she will be best remembered. That, and a laugh that could light up a city with its joy and light, that no one could resist laughing back at.," her obituary read.

A small, family service was held for her on Thursday. Memory trees can be planted in her honor through here.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)