Diane Bezan, 59; teacher went beyond the syllabus

At The Winsor School in Boston, where she was a beloved member of the faculty for nearly 30 years, Diane (Jaffa) Bezan taught generations of young women much more than math and algebra.

"Mrs. Bezan was an amazing woman," said Mary Gallagher of Boston, a 1994 Winsor graduate, who works in currency trading. "She gave her students an enormous sense of empowerment, validation, and guidance. She shared her love of math, but I think the most important thing she offered was her love. She transformed young girls into young women and inspired them to go out into the world and, to some degree, emulate her. She taught us how to learn and how to love."

"In recent years, we saw her courage and grace while she was battling cancer," Gallagher said. "Aside from my mother, she was one of the largest female influences in my life."

Mrs. Bezan, who was also an administrator for 15 years of her almost three decades at Winsor, died Monday of a brain tumor at Waban Health and Rehabilitation Center. She was 59 and lived in Newton.

Her husband, Dr. Allan Bezan, described her as "a warm, brilliant, generous-minded woman with a well-developed sense of empathy and compassion and a full appreciation of the big picture. In short, she was the quintessential Winsor teacher."

Mrs. Bezan's colleagues at Winsor said she taught "beyond the syllabus."

"Diane had a deep intuitive understanding and empathy for other people," said Carolyn McClintock Peter of Brookline.

As Winsor's former director, Peter made Mrs. Bezan her first assistant director, then associate director of the independent day school for girls. At the same time, Mrs. Bezan was head of Winsor's upper school, grades nine through 12.

"Diane listened intently," Peter said. "She heard more than what was being said and was able to respond to what people were really asking, even if they weren't making it clear. I think it's fair to say that young women who sought extra support, either academically, socially, or personally, trusted and respected her and sought her out for whatever concerns they had.

"Even though Diane had a lot of power because of her position, she was never intimidating," Peter said, telling of one young student, who would often go to Mrs. Bezan's office, lie down on the couch, and wait for her. Colleagues went there for advice, as well.

"Diane was the epitome of the teacher in every sense of the word, in terms of dealing with parents and students," said Barbara Bailey of Newton, former director of studies at Winsor. "She was inclusive in every sense and worked very hard to teach the rest of [the school] community about diversity of class and gender. And she had a wonderful sense of humor. She was a mother figure to all students and a wonderful mentor to young, new teachers. She recognized people's strengths and encouraged them to pursue them."

Mrs. Bezan so loved to teach, she continued to during her years as a Winsor administrator.

"Mrs. Bezan kind of crossed the line between an adult and a peer," said Lauren Connolly of Roslindale, who graduated in 1997 and is now a law student in Chicago. "She taught us how to be strong, capable women and that it was OK to be intelligent and feminine at the same time. She had a great sense of perspective of what was 'a big deal' and what was 'a little deal.' "

Mrs. Bezan was born in Providence, the daughter of Aaron and Jean Jaffa. After attending high school in Providence, she graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey with a degree in mathematics in 1969. She taught mathematics in Lexington public schools for five years before moving to Winsor as a part-time tutor in 1975.

It was at Winsor that Mrs. Bezan spent her most memorable years. In a recent interview with a school publication, Mrs. Bezan was quoted as saying, "I ended up doing something I never thought I was capable of."

Because her teaching was not limited to mathematics, her students often went home with food for thought and an assignment to write a paper on a current news event, usually in the field of science. The essay would be discussed the next day, in the same way Mrs. Bezan and students would on Monday mornings reflect on the movies they saw or what they did over the weekend.

"Mrs. Bezan treated us as equals and was never condescending," said Maddie King, of Wellesley.

Mrs. Bezan's students felt very lucky, as did their parents, to know her. "Diane became the school's keeper of the flame for its tradition of excellence and developing its students into independent thinking young women," said Joseph J. O'Donnell of Belmont, a Winsor trustee and parent.

Sophia Ferguson of Brookline, a senior at Winsor, described Mrs. Bezan as "giving 150 percent of herself to her students. She had the ability to guide you without telling you what to do. After talking with her, you just knew what you were after."

Over the years, Mrs. Bezan's students honored her with several outstanding teacher awards. Among Mrs. Bezan's legacy to them are a number of school programs, including one in leadership. When she retired in 2004, the school established the Diane Bezan Fund for Student Leadership. Her former office will be known as the Diane Bezan Room.

Besides her husband and her mother, of Warwick, R.I., Mrs. Bezan leaves a son, Jayme, of Boston; two brothers, Alan and David Jaffa, both of Foster, R.I.; two sisters, Natalie Fleischer of West Warwick, R.I., and Jerri Jaffa, of North Kingstown, R.I.; and two grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Stanetsky Memorial Chapel in Brookline. Burial will be in Lincoln Park Cemetery in Warwick, R.I.