Tara Lynn Clossman was passionate about teaching because she loved children.
She was enthusiastic about dancing because it was her way of expressing joy.
“She started dancing when she was 5 and it just took over her life. It just became her way of expressing her joy with life,” said her father, Robert “Hal” Clossman. “As a teacher, she wanted to do everything she could to help her students be their best. She just wanted to make sure every student got a quality education and she did everything she could to make that happen.”
The Akron Public Schools elementary teacher and dance instructor at McCardle’s Dance Studio in Cuyahoga Falls was fatally shot in August. Her family and friends now are working to continue her legacy of educating children via the Tara Clossman Foundation and Scholarship Fund.
The first fundraiser — Pasta with a Purpose: Tara Clossman Memorial Dinner — is at 4 p.m. Sunday at John Nardella Hall, 501 Kelly Ave., Akron. Proceeds will benefit the scholarship fund and the Victim Assistance Program of Summit County.
“It was impossible to not like Tara. She was a light and my world is always going to be a little darker because she’s gone,” said Karen Jones, president of the Voris Community Learning Center PTA. “She was a really wonderful person. She was on our board. It’s hard to go to a PTA meeting and not see her pop up with that bright smile.”
Clossman, a 2010 Firestone High School and 2014 Kent State University graduate, was honored last year with the Outstanding Educator Award by the PTA at Voris, where she taught fourth grade for a year and a half. She was to begin teaching fifth grade at Portage Path Community Learning Center this school year.
But on Aug. 20, Clossman, 25, and her boyfriend, Michael V. Lovette, 33, of Massillon, were shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend, Shane Varner of Jackson Township, who died a week later from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Massillon police.
As her family and friends continue to struggle with her sudden loss, they are looking for ways to help other families avoid their heart-wrenching experience and to keep her joyous, heartwarming spirit alive.
In addition to the scholarship sponsored by the Voris PTA, McCardle’s Dance Studio has established the Tara Lynn Clossman “Sparkle & Shine Memorial Scholarship” for students who exhibit passion and dedication to dance. The studio awarded its first scholarship, which covers tuition for dance lessons from August to June, to two sisters in August.
“Tara loved anything with sparkles, sequins and rhinestones and she was a treasured member of our family,” said Colleen (McCardle) Contillo, studio owner. “Tara was one of the kindest, hardworking, motivated people that I have ever known. I could always count on her because she would help in any way that she could. She was like a big sister to my 17-year-old daughter. Losing her was like losing a piece of my heart.”
Contillo described Clossman as one of the most amazing tap dancers her studio has nurtured. She said it has been difficult trying to explain her loss to the children and teenagers whom she taught.
“A lot of people are completely devastated because she had such a positive impact on all of us,” Contillo said. “I think one of the best things we can do is try to live like she’d want us to live — finding the joy in everything.”
Clossman’s mother, Kathy, agrees. She said that despite the agonizing circumstances of her daughter’s death, she would never want her family and friends to lose faith in people. The overwhelming outpouring of support and love from others, including Lovette’s family, has been a constant reminder of that.
“We have just been blown away by it all. It's unbelievable how many people she touched — some of them we know and some have been total strangers,” Kathy Clossman said. “They all saw something special in her and shared how she was always willing to give so freely.”
The Clossmans now know that their daughter was tracked via location services on her cellphone.
“She never thought he would hurt her,” Kathy Clossman said of her daughter’s ex-boyfriend.
“But he wouldn't leave her alone, after she broke it off. He would just show up and sometimes make a scene,” Hal Clossman added.
The Clossmans said that while the shooter was never physically abusive, he was controlling and seemed to have anger issues.
“If he said or did something to upset Tara, he would always buy her a gift — sometimes really expensive gifts, like a $1,000 ring. She wouldn't even accept things like that because it was just too much,” Kathy Clossman said. “I remember Tara saying to me, ‘Mom, when you don't want to be with somebody, why don't they just walk away?’ ”
“I wish she had never met him,” Hal Clossman said. “When Tara started seeing something wasn't right with him, she thought she could help him. That was just like her, wanting to do whatever she could to help somebody.”
The Clossmans said their daughter had plans to file for a restraining order and have her phone cleaned two days after she was killed.
Terri Heckman, executive director of the Summit County/Medina County Battered Women's Shelter, advised that if anyone is being treated inappropriately in a relationship or being disrespected, they should seek help.
“Emotional, financial and sexual abuse are all part of a continuum of domestic violence. It’s not always physical abuse — it’s belittling, it’s name calling, it’s controlling,” Heckman said. “Sometimes, it might mean you need counseling or to learn better communications skills or to learn to set better boundaries or to learn how to stand up for yourself or to walk away.”
Heckman said her agency is a resource for finding help to make the right decisions.
“People don’t have to wait until they need shelter to call us. We are also here for prevention and early intervention. We want to keep people [from] needing victim assistance,” Heckman said. “Domestic violence is a very complex human behavior and it doesn’t help that our society has become less and less respectable and more and more tolerant of inappropriate behavior.”
The shelter’s hotline (330-374-1111) is open to victims as well as family, friends and co-workers who suspect domestic abuse to seek information and ways to help those who are vulnerable to abuse. The shelter will help victims develop a safety plan.
The Clossmans said they are still exploring ways to advance the conversation on warning signs and how to help potential victims safely walk away from abusive relationships. They are open to partnerships with agencies such as victim assistance and the battered women’s shelter.
“Anything that we do in her memory, we want to have an impact on someone’s life,” Kathy Clossman said. “We want to do something to help prevent somebody else’s family from going through what we’re going through.”