Lorri Coppola, retired teacher who joined Olympic torch relay, dies at 68
By Jim Staats
Article Launched: 10/15/2008 04:02:40 PM PDT


Lorri Coppola, a retired San Rafael school teacher who participated in this year's Olympic torch relay to shed light on Lou Gehrig's disease, died Saturday after a three-year battle with the disease.

Miss Coppola, a resident of Greenbrae, died at Rafael Convalescent Hospital in San Rafael. She was 68.

A longtime teacher at Davidson Middle School, where she taught physical education and coached several teams, Miss Coppola dedicated the last years of her life to raising awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the crippling ailment known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

She remained active even though the illness took away her ability to speak and required a feeding tube attached to her stomach.

Miss Coppola, who had competed internationally in masters racewalking, achieved an athletic highlight in April as one of 80 individuals selected to carry the torch for the Beijing Olympics through a chaotic relay leg in San Francisco.

"That was an absolute dream come true for her," said her niece, Lorri Caffrey, of Cedar Grove, N.J.

San Rafael resident Pauline Ancell, part of a close-knit group of Miss Coppola's friends, said of her friend's tireless efforts to combat the disease, "she said since she had it, she's going to try to fight it for the next generation."

Born March 11, 1940, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Miss Coppola earned a bachelor's degree from Sargent College at Boston University and a master's degree in science and education from the State University of New

York at Cortland in 1967.
Miss Coppola is survived by her twin brother, Jim Coppola, of North Port, Fla.; three nieces and a nephew.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Nov. 15 at St. Sebastian's Church, 373 Bon Air Road in Greenbrae.

Friends and family requested donations be made in her honor to the ALS Association Greater Bay Area Chapter, 565 Commercial St., 2nd floor, San Francisco 94111.

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