PLAINSBORO — As her three young sons embraced her tightly, the tearful widow of the schools superintendent who was killed by a car Tuesday morning said Friday that her husband's legacy would live on in the thousands of people who've had Steven Mayer as a teacher, principal and administrator.

"I need you to know that on Tuesday morning I lost the absolute love of my life," Donna Mayer said Friday afternoon at a memorial service at the Princeton Alliance Church, where the family worshiped in this borough. "I believe that he is alive and well in heaven and he is in the presence of God."

Mayer was struck and killed with his dog Tuesday morning just before sunrise at 6:12 a.m. while he was jogging on Robbinsville-Edinburg Road not far from his home.

The car was driven by a 17-year-old student of Robbinsville High School. Police said the teen was on her way to school. She has not been charged with any crime or issued any summonses as the investigation continues.

The student was briefly mentioned at the memorial service by Associate Lead Pastor Josh Dean, who said that she has more to look forward to than just the guilt of the tragedy.

"There is hope, there is forgiveness, there is mercy for all at the foot of the cross," he said.

The heartbreaking tragedy struck a nerve, not only in his community and church, but with innumerable students and colleagues who knew Mayer throughout three decades as an educator.

The ceremony was streamed live to crowds watching at Robbinsville High School, Queenship of Mary Church in Plainsboro and St. David the King Church in Princeton Junction, as well as YouTube.

On Tuesday evening, hundreds attended a vigil for Mayer at Foxmoor Community Park. The district's three public schools were closed Tuesday and Wednesday for mourning.

Mayer was highly religious man. On the morning of his death, he was listening to a sermon during his jog, his wife said.

"I lost him and my life is different now. I was so blessed to have these three beautiful boys," she said about Ryan, 23, Shaun, 20, and Kyle, 17. "And still am blessed because I have these boys and their dad is alive and well in each of them. And Steve's legacy will carry on in each of them."

Mayer was hired in 2009 as superintendent in Robbinsville, where he and his family live. He previously was assistant superintendent at West Windsor-Plainsboro, founding principal at Thomas R. Grover Middle School in West Windsor-Plainsboro, assistant principal at Applegarth Middle School in Monroe, principal at James Madison Intermediate School in Edison, and taught in Howell and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

"He believed that students should get the best possible education," Donna Mayer said. "So that you would take that education, that you would take the gifts that God gave you and that you would... make the world a better place... by loving people, being kind, forgiving them, serving them."

Sergio Bichao is deputy digital editor at New Jersey 101.5. Send him news tips: Call 609-438-1015 or email sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com.

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