Shannon Dornauer recalls how Trafford Elementary School teacher Mike Martinelli knew how to make all of his students feel welcome in his classroom.

“I just remember him being very friendly and outgoing. He always made everybody feel very included and comfortable,” said Dornauer, 37, of Latrobe. “Back in elementary school, I feel like I was a very quiet child, so to feel comfortable in the classroom was very important.”

Martinelli, of Murrysville, died unexpectedly on Saturday, Sept. 27. He was 53.

Dornauer had Martinelli as a teacher in 1999-2000 when she was a fifth grade student at Harrison Park. But when she occasionally ran into her former teacher at the grocery store after graduation, Martinelli always remembered her.

“He always said ‘Hi,’ and we’d always speak,” she said. “It seemed like he was always happy to see a former student.”

Martinelli taught elementary students in the district for about 27 years, most recently educating students at Trafford Elementary for about a decade, Principal Amy Horvat said.

Martinelli and Horvat were hired the same year, she said. Though they did not teach at the same building until last year, they often overlapped during the annual fifth grade class trips to Deer Valley in Somerset County.

The Trafford Elementary staff was devastated to hear of Martinelli’s death, Horvat said. His personality left a lasting impression, she said.

“I don’t want to say the word goofy, but he was a little bit goofy and he was just a unique character, a unique personality,” she said. “He knew he was, and people would tease him about those things, but he would laugh along with it.

“He was just a unique guy that related to kids, and that’s what you want in elementary. It might not always be about the style you teach and all those things. To me, it’s more about how you connect with kids, and he did do that.”

Austin Welch, 23, of Greensburg had Martinelli as a fourth grade teacher at Harrison Park in 2011. Martinelli will be missed by the Penn-Trafford community, he said.

“One thing I’ll always remember about that man was that he always had a smile on his face,” Welch said via email. “The way in which he taught gave students a reason to excel.

“He would encourage his students to present by pointing out their strengths and speak in the kindest manner to those who were struggling to start.”

Martinelli was born Oct. 12, 1971, in Jeannette to Calvin and Nancy Martinelli, according to an obituary posted by John M. Dobrinick Funeral Home, where he worked as a part-time assistant.

He enjoyed golfing, basketball, fishing, hunting, bike riding and listening to music, according to his Penn-Trafford webpage.

Martinelli is survived by his parents; children Dominic and Sofia Martinelli of Harrison City; and sister Gina Ross of Greensburg.

There will be no visitation and services are private, according to the obituary.

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