About 150 people gathered Wednesday evening to remember Eric Jorgensen, a social studies teacher at Catherine McAuley High School who, along with his mother, was shot and killed by his father this month in Boothbay Harbor in what state police called a murder-suicide.

Jorgensen was remembered as a “naturally kind” and caring soul who loved to teach, surf, snowboard and hike. He was also an archaeology buff who worked on digs in Alabama, Tennessee and other states.

ERIK JORGENSEN

A memorial fund in the name of Eric Jorgensen is promoted in the main lobby of Catherine McAuley High School, where a memorial service was held in his honor on Wednesday. Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer

But far more important were his students, said Kathryn Woodson Barr, head of school at Catherine McAuley in Portland, where the service was held in the auditorium. Barr said Jorgensen was known around campus for working long hours, all to the benefit of his students, who enjoyed his sense of humor and ability to make dry topics come alive.

“Indeed, he loved teaching students at McAuley,” Barr said.

Jorgensen, 40, and his mother, Carol Jorgensen, 75, were shot to death at their homes in Boothbay Harbor a few days before July 4, the Maine State Police said. Their bodies were discovered on July 3, but police believe they may have died on July 1 or 2.

They were killed by Svend Jorgensen, 71, who then shot himself. Eric Jorgensen was murdered in the kitchen of his grandmother’s home on Montgomery Road, where he had moved after his grandmother died last year. His parent’s bodies were found in their home on Lakeside Drive.

State police spokesman Stephen McCausland said Wednesday that there is still no known motive for the killings.

Police said Svend Jorgensen left a handwritten note concerning his financial affairs and real estate but gave no explanation for killing his wife and son. Svend Jorgensen was a retired Bath Iron Works naval architect. The family was well known in Boothbay Harbor.

“We don’t know what the father’s motive was,” McCausland said Wednesday. “We do know who pulled the trigger, but we don’t know why.”

School officials said Eric Jorgensen started teaching at McAuley High in 2002. He taught at the school for three years before leaving in 2005 to pursue archaeology.

Barr said Jorgensen worked on digs for several years before returning to McAuley last September to teach social studies.

“Mr. Jorgensen’s dedication to educational excellence was unmistakable. From spearheading an archaeological dig to leading our students to a national yearbook award, his spirit soared in every project he undertook. Today and forevermore, this very same spirit will continue to shine,” Barr wrote in a messages on the school’s Facebook page.

Students and colleagues remembered Jorgensen as a kind person and fun-loving teacher.

“What a class that was,” said a recent graduate, Rachel Taylor, referring to an Advanced Placement course in government that Jorgensen taught. Though the course covered some “dry” topics, Taylor said, her teacher kept things lively. “There wasn’t a day that went by that we didn’t laugh.”

Taylor said she was intrigued by Jorgensen’s hobbies. She said he liked to snowboard and surf.

“I know his calming presence will be missed,” Taylor said. “Mr. Jorgensen was one of the kindest people I ever met.”

Jorgensen’s former colleague Joe Wagner said Jorgensen’s life at the all-girls school revolved around his students’ education. McAuley is Maine’s only all-girls college preparatory high school.

“He put his heart, intellect and character into the development of his students,” Wagner said.

Rebecca Redlon, McAuley’s academic dean, said that a poem to remember Jorgensen and his legacy at McAuley will be posted in his honor each day for the next year on poemsforremembrance.blogspot.com.

The school has also established a memorial fund in Jorgensen’s name to honor his work and commitment to education.

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