Flags on campus will be lowered to half-staff Thursday in memory of Monika Dewar, a former nursing teacher who was killed in a car accident Sunday evening, said Mary Nell Kirk, an executive assistant in the chancellor’s office.Dewar, who taught in the nursing school in the 1980s, remained active in the program for many years, said former colleague Linda Curry, interim director of academics in the Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Dewar, 71, and her husband Norman, 75, were killed in a car accident at the intersection of Bellaire Drive and South Hulen Steet at 9:06 p.m. Sunday, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Web site.

According to a Nov. 28 Fort Worth Star-Telegram article, the wreck occurred when the Dewars’ Cadillac was struck by a vehicle driven by Mario Dorsey. Dorsey, 27, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

A memorial service for the couple will be held at noon Thursday at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Fort Worth, said the Rev. Linda McDermott, associate minister of FUMC.

The Dewars were members of the church for more than 10 years, McDermott said.

“They were here every Sunday,” McDermott said. “She even helped with our parish nursing program.”

Tanya Howard, who graduated from the nursing school in 1985 and was one of Dewar’s students, said Dewar was a passionate woman who was more like a mother than an instructor.

“I felt like we were more of a family than we were a class,” Howard said.

Dewar was a remarkable teacher, Howard said.

“There was one time that she invited us down to her house to practice starting I.V.’s on each other, and to practice doing shots on oranges,” Howard said. “She had a bunch of fruit laid out in case we passed out.”

Dewar remained active with the nursing school even after she quit teaching, Curry said.

“She was a member of the alumni association, she attended nursing school events, was a mentor for nursing students and was active in the nursing honorary society, Sigma Theta Tau,” Curry said.

Howard said Dewar made a lasting impression on she and her classmates.

“The class of ’85 will definitely miss her,” Howard said. “She never forgot who we were. She still knew who you were when you ran into her at the grocery store.”

Curry said the thing she will remember most about Dewar is her outgoing personality.

“She was a very special person, very kind-hearted and definitely not easily forgotten,” Curry said.

Howard said she agreed that Dewar’s legacy will live on.

“This is a great loss,” Howard said. “I know she hasn’t been at school, but she was a wonderful instructor, and more than that, she was a good friend.