John Bligh
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- Teacher
Irina Karpova, an adaptive physical education teacher with a gift for reaching her District 75 students and spreading joy throughout her school, died on June 28, 2022, after a battle with breast cancer. She was 58.
A UFT member for 19 years, Irina worked at PS 369@PS 67 in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. She taught nonverbal students on the autism spectrum with severe gross motor and sensory disorders to follow directions, walk on balance beams, play volleyball and dance, said Keri Goldman, the chapter leader at PS 369.
“Irina Karpova was the most talented adaptive physical education teacher I have ever met,” said Goldman, calling her “irreplaceable.”
Goldman remembered Irina as “a creative soul who loved sharing beauty everywhere she went, from the flowers she shared from her garden to the clothing she felted and dyed or the rooms she helped decorate for colleagues’ surprise parties.
“There was never a reason not to celebrate because Irina made the job an easier place to be with her honesty and ability to see the best in people,” Goldman said. “There was nothing she couldn’t do, except escape this cancer.”
Irina and her family immigrated to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2000 in search of a better life and more opportunities, said her daughter, Ekaterina “Kate” Karpova.
Her mother loved her job working with autistic children, she said, and “when she got sick, she told me she would miss her students the most.”
Kate Karpova said she misses everything about her mother. “She did everything for us,” she said. “She was so kind.”
Irina loved working with her hands, whether gardening or painting, making silk scarves and hats, or other arts and crafts. “We always had a ton of flowers in the back garden,” Kate Karpova said. Irina also loved the water. “She really liked traveling, loved tropical places,” her daughter remembered. “She loved going to the beach.”
In addition to her daughter, Irina is survived by her husband, Alexander Karpov, a physical education teacher at PS 186 in the Bronx, and her son, Daniel Karpov. Irina “loved her family ferociously and was insanely proud of her children,” Goldman said.
Condolences may be sent to Kate Karpova at ekat493@yahoo.com.
I worked with Ms. Karpova many years ago and she was always smiling and was wonderful with the kids. She is sorely missed by many. Gone way too soon.