MARIETTA - Linda LeSueur's passion for education went beyond teaching.

"She enjoyed the simple things, the smiles, the laughter and the process of children learning something new," said LeSueur's daughter, Hillery LeSueur-Cecil of Marietta. "She always thought preschool was the most important age."

Even after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, LeSueur continued her position as the director of the Weekday Ministry preschool program at First United Methodist Church of Marietta.

On Sunday, LeSueur lost her battle with cancer. She was 63.

"She never stopped. She never complained. She just got up every morning and continued on," said LeSueur's oldest son, Nathan LeSueur of Atlanta. "She worked every day up until the week before she died. It was the school that kept her going."

She was born on Sept. 25, 1947, in Buffalo, N.Y., and went to high school in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. She moved to Georgia to attend Wesleyan College in Macon. After graduating in 1969, she got her first job with Cobb County Schools, where she taught second grade at Kennesaw Elementary School. On Aug. 11, 1970, she married Paul LeSueur, who died in 2007.

LeSueur took time off from her career to raise her sons, Nathan and Will, and daughter, Hillery. In 1991, she was offered the job at her church.

Under her leadership, the program prospered, said the Rev. Sam Storey, retired senior associate church minster.

"She gave it a new life," he said of the Weekday Ministry. "She was a deeply committed person, highly competent, always positive and had new ideas and would use those ideas to help children and teachers. But the big thing was her compassion - every child was important."

Carol Franzman worked alongside LeSueur for 10 years, and the two were close friends.

"She wouldn't allow me to say I worked for her, but with her," she said. "Linda was a very loving, generous lady. She always saw the good in everyone."

As director of the program, LeSueur handled many things, from day-to-day operations to creating the curriculum.

"She was insistent everything a child did was age-appropriate," Franzman said. "She loved every child unconditionally. She felt every child deserved the best."

In addition to expanding the size and scope of the program, LeSueur also helped the Weekday Ministry become one of the first programs of its kind in the community to be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

"She had a great vision for our program," said Terri Mathis, LeSueur's administrative assistant. "She led through her actions and gave 110 percent in everything she did."

LeSueur continued to embrace her favorite activities after her diagnosis.

"She loved the beach," said Nathan LeSueur. "We took her to Tybee Island after her diagnosis and she went often with friends."

One of her most recent trips was a spring break vacation to Navarre Beach, Fla., with girlfriends in April.

Her friend, Franzman, said, "She handled her disease and diagnosis with a lot of courage and dignity. She not only continued living, but enjoying her life."

Nathan LeSueur said the family is planning a trip to Tybee Island to spread his parents' ashes together.

LeSueur, a grandmother of three, was active in many community activities. She previously served on the Cobb County Youth Museum board, where she also worked as a volunteer and a docent. She was also a member of the Junior League of Cobb-Marietta and participated in local walks for breast cancer.

"My mother was just an exceptional person in every sense of the word," LeSueur-Cecil said. "She really lived like God would have wanted her to live. She was an example in all parts of her faith, her family and her life."

Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at First United Methodist Church of Marietta, 56 Whitlock Ave., Marietta, with a reception following. Mayes-Ward Dobbins is handling the arrangements.

Memorial donations may be made to the Weekday Ministry.