Laura Tatem Bupp, 38, educator at autism school

Laura Tatem Bupp, 38, of Barrington, former education director for the NHS Autism School in Philadelphia, died on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at Cooper University Hospital in Camden after an infection.

David C. Fales, senior director of operations for NHS Human Services-Schools in Northeast Philadelphia, wrote in a statement that "we at the NHS Human Services family were very saddened to hear the news of the sudden and untimely passing" of Mrs. Bupp.

"Laura was a genuinely kindhearted person who truly loved her students with special needs," Fales said.

"She will always be remembered for her desire to bring these children the very best that life has to offer."

Formerly known as Northwestern Human Services, NHS Human Services now has 19 schools for special needs students in the state, three of them in Philadelphia, Fales said.

The students are referred to day programs at NHS by the School District of Philadelphia and other districts in the Pennsylvania suburbs, he said.

Mrs. Bupp graduated from Haddon Township High School in 1994, where she was a varsity softball pitcher for four years, her sister, Linda Tatem, said in a phone interview.

She earned a bachelor's degree in communicative disorders from the University of Rhode Island in 1998, where she played on its softball team. In 2009, she earned a master's in applied behavioral analysis from Arcadia University.

Mrs. Bupp spent much of her career at NHS, her sister said, before leaving two years ago.

"That was her passion after college - children and especially children with special needs," her sister said.

Beth Vogt, who described herself as Mrs. Bupp's best friend, said Mrs. Bupp began her career as an instructor for infants and children up to 3 years old at Northeast Growth and Child Development Center, before beginning her career with NHS in the early 2000s.

Vogt was a contractor who provided occupational therapy to NHS students from 2002 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2011, she said.

"She built that program," Vogt said of Mrs. Bupp. "When she started there were maybe six or seven kids. By the time she left, I think they were in the high 20s."

The experience was painful, she said.

"I'll never forget" one incident, Vogt said. "She came home and had black and blue marks, three inches on her arm."

Mrs. Bupp had been walking with a boy and, when she did not do what he wanted, he pinched her arm.

"She loved him. She was not upset," Vogt said. "I was more upset than she was."

Besides her sister, Mrs. Bupp is survived by her husband, Jeremy, and her parents, E. William and Judy Tatem.

A viewing was set from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, at the Foster-Warne Funeral Home, 820 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, and Saturday, Sept. 6, from 9 to 10 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 401 Clements Bridge Rd., Barrington, N.J. 08007 - where she had been a Sunday school teacher for more than 10 years - before a 10 a.m. funeral service there.

Donations may be sent to the church at the above address.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.fosterwarnefuneralhome.com.