Nicoleta "Nickie" Oliver, 65, taught at Dutch Neck Elementary for over 30 years and owned and operated a preschool in West Windsor.
WEST WINDSOR -- Nicoleta Oliver, the passenger who died in a one-vehicle crash in West Windsor Sunday, was a beloved former teacher in town who also ran a preschool for some time.
Oliver, 65, taught fifth grade at Dutch Neck Elementary for over 30 years and also owned and operated a preschool on Village Road West. She went by the first name of Nickie.
Nickie Oliver. Family photo."She touched generations of West Windsor students," Tony DiPolvere, a former pupil, said Wednesday.
Oliver died Sunday when a car driven by 74-year-old Timothy Ignas veered off South Mill Road and slammed into a tree at about 1:35 p.m.
Timothy Ignas also died in the collision. Lorraine M. Ignas, 73, survived the crash and was taken to a Trenton trauma center for treatment, West Windsor police said.
Police suspect Timothy Ignas may have suffered a medical attack at the wheel, but the crash is still under investigation.
The Ignas' and Oliver were officially listed by police as residents of Henderson, Nev., a Las Vegas suburb.
But police and people who knew them said the three were longtime West Windsor residents, and close friends, who relocated to the Las Vegas area in the past several years.
Connie Farina, a friend of Oliver's, said if you ever met Oliver, "You would never forget her."
In the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district, whenever a retirement party was held, Oliver usually served as master of ceremonies because she as a great speaker and personality.
"She was very outgoing, and she did a lot for the children," Farina said. "It's a terrible loss."
Victor McDonald went to high school with Oliver at Hamilton's Steinert High School, graduating in 1968. (Also in that class was future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr.)
When McDonald heard of her death, he pulled out his old yearbook, where she wrote that she wanted to be an elementary school teacher. He said the number of people she knew, taught and impacted are uncountable.
In 2008, when planning the class' 40th reunion, nobody had a number for Oliver, so McDonald drove to her home in West Windsor and the chatted for 20 minutes. "It was just like old times," he said. "She was extremely sweet."
DiPolvere, who had Oliver as a fifth grade teacher in the late 1980s at Dutch Neck, said she was the teacher all the kids bragged about having for the upcoming school year when the district mailed teacher notices over the summer.
"I remember class so vividly," DiPolvere said. He and other West Windsor alumni have been sharing stories about Oliver on Facebook.
He said everyone's saying basically the same thing: she was their favorite teacher ever, she made such an impression on them and she always told her students she'd always be there to help them out long after they left her classroom.
"She was one of those above and beyond teachers," DiPolvere said.
Debbie Baer, who taught with Oliver for years, also could not say enough good things about her.
Baer said Oliver not only was a positive influence on students, but fellow teachers. She would skip lunch to assist a fellow teacher, and never rested on her own laurels.
"People really looked at her as the way to do it," Baer said.
After hearing of her death, Baer posted on Facebook page: "Nickie Oliver will always be someone I aspire to be like."
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
