"She was really nice and very fun, but she was also very much a tough lady in the right sort of sense," according to Tom Prunty, a friend, whose niece goes to Sandy Hook and was uninjured Friday. "She was the kind of person you'd want to be educating your kids. And the kids loved her."

Her decision to step out into danger when the shooting began has left her husband with some difficult emotions.

"Dawn put herself in jeopardy, and I have been angry about that," he said.

But that changed Sunday, he said, when he met two teachers who told him that his wife had instructed them to take shelter while she confronted Lanza.

"She could've avoided that," George Hochsprung said. "But she didn't; I knew she wouldn't. So, I'm not angry anymore."

His voice wavering, he continued: "I'm not angry. I'm just very sad."