- Date Of Birth: September 20, 1932
- Date Of Death: October 11, 2021
- State: Florida
Eveleen Louise Lorton, our dear loved one, friend, and colleague, passed away October 11, 2021. She was born September 20, 1932 in Sulphur Springs (Tampa), daughter of Rev. John W. Lorton and Leona Zander Lorton, sister of Clara Smith, brother of Dr. John Lorton, and half-sister of Naomi Ledwidge.
Professor Lorton taught at the University of Miami from 1966 through 2010. She earned her Ph.D. from Louisiana State University and was awarded a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at New York University. She actually conducted research in the applicability of the behavioral sciences to teacher education.
In 1984, Eveleen and Zelda Glazer founded the Miami-Dade County Public Schools and University of Miami Writing Institute, a research-based program to improve instructional processes for the teaching of writing. Throughout the Institute’s long tenure of 36 years, this widely hailed professional development opportunity continues to engage and affect change, having touched the lives of over 4,700 educators.
Dr. Eveleen Lorton devoted her life to being a teacher of teachers. Her knowledge, wisdom, actions, and most of all her heart overflowing with love and pure joy, made her the highly admired educator and leader that she was. She deeply believed that what mattered most was that teachers were immensely valued and supported, so that they, in turn, would do the same for their students. She often said that her favorite aphorism was “life is a smile.” With thanks to her caring spirit, there are plenty of smiles on the faces of numerous teachers today.
Eveleen was preceded in death by her dear friend, Jane Everitt, brother Dr. John Lorton, sister Clara Smith, half-sister Naomi Ledwidge, and parents Rev. John and Leona Lorton. She is survived by nephews Jon (Barbi) Smith, Dick (Emily) Smith, and Mike (Teresa) Smith, niece Sue (Royce) Hammel, 10 grand-nephews and nieces, and 14 great grand-nephews and nieces.
