Boat crash victim was beloved Bellevue music teacher

A woman who was killed when the sailboat she was on was struck by a motorboat on Lake Washington Saturday was a beloved music teacher who was known for her energy, enthusiasm and interest in students.

Heather DeHart, 38, of Bothell, was a violist who taught five full classes of string students at Tyee Middle School in the Bellevue School District, organized musicals and talent shows, and taught fiddle to a bunch of students before classes began in the morning, according to Tyee principal Judy Buckmaster.

That early-bird group, which called itself "Fiddle Thunder," frequently performed at Seattle's Folklife Festival, Buckmaster said.

News of DeHart's death hit students and faculty hard, she said.

"She had a big personality and was very positive, kid-focused and larger than life," Buckmaster said Monday. "Everybody is grieving."

DeHart, who had taught in the Federal Way School District before taking the job at Tyee five years ago, was working toward her master's degree at Central Washington University, Buckmaster said.

DeHart was killed around 8:45 p.m. Saturday when a motorboat, driven by a 17-year-old boy, rammed into the sailboat she was on with two companions.

Police said witnesses told them the motorboat was traveling at a high rate of speed before it struck the stationary sailboat west of Mercer Island, off the 4500 block of Lake Washington Boulevard South near Seattle's Seward Park.

Police said witnesses on shore said the motorboat hit the sailboat, went up over the back of it and struck DeHart, throwing her into the water.

Police did not release further details about the ongoing investigation on Monday, including the name of the 17-year-old driver, the make and model of the boats or whether the anchored sailboat had its lights on.

The 17-year-old was questioned by police and released.

His passenger, a 16-year-old girl, was taken to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, as was a 45-year-old man who had been onboard the sailboat.

Another man on the sailboat was not injured, police said.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com