Rigoberto Ruelas

I usually avoid depressing posts and have never posted a news story, as I recall, but this one is different. I have never met Rigoberto Ruelas or even heard of him before today, but his story intersects mine in three ways that will have me contemplating life for a few days. First, he was a teacher working for the same district that I do. Not that interesting because it is a very large district but I might not have heard of his death if he worked somewhere else. Second, the school that he worked at was in the same area as the school I worked at for the last 3+ years. Third, he lived in the area that I work now.
The second and third points are really what are causing me to obsess about this news story; I'm sure that LAUSD teachers die often enough that it really isn't that news worthy. The fact that it was an apparent suicide and that the suicide may have been caused by an unsatisfactory rating by the LA Times recently do make it news worthy, although I'm not really thinking too much about that. What I am thinking about are the students.
The elementary school that he taught at is very close to the high school that I taught at. He was there for many years so it is very likely that some of the students that I taught had him as a teacher. The community that I teach in now is a stable and predominately Hispanic community. The news stories seem to indicate that he not only lived there but had family there. He was very likely raised there and knew and was known to many families. I will not be surprised if I go to work tomorrow and find that several of my students have some connection to him and his family. I might even be teaching a younger cousin or niece or nephew.
I would have felt some sympathy for him and his family any way, but now I am wondering how many people that I know and love (or learning to love) will be hurt and personally saddened by the news of his passing.