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Anita Datar (right) at a Mount Olive High School class reunion with Kristen Vidal Husby (left) in Morristown. (Photo courtesy of Tara Elms Henderson)
FLANDERS -- Long before Anita Datar went to Mali, before she became a mother and before she earned her master's degrees, her classmates at Mount Olive High School knew her as the ever-smiling girl who sometimes laughed so hard that she cried.
The girl from the house on Clover Hill Drive played the flute in the marching band, chaired the prom committee and, like most every other teen from Flanders, hung out at Rockaway Mall, her friends recalled.
"It is easy to find great things to say about Anita," said Liza Nechamkin Glasser, who met Datar in elementary school. "Anita was one of the good ones."
That made it all the more difficult when Datar's former classmates saw her picture on the news on Friday. Datar, 41, was dead, the only known American among at least 19 people killed by terrorists at a hotel in Mali.
Though Datar moved away after graduating from Rutgers University, news of her death hit Mount Olive hard, classmates say. Her old friends had kept track of her through social media and remembered her Saturday both for her accomplishments as an adult and for her kindness in childhood.
"She always said hello and was always kind to all her schoolmates," Glasser said. "I just remember her being kind. And as an adult, beautiful and radiant and smiley."
'Something special'
The younger of two children, Datar grew up in a quiet neighborhood in the Flanders section of Mount Olive, friends said. She was among the smartest in her class in grade school, a theme that continued throughout high school.
"I remember her being, like, pretty much really good at any class," said Tara Elms Henderson, a high school friend.
At Mount Olive High School, Datar played both the flute and mellophone in marching band, including during the band's memorable rendition of music from "Les Miserables," friends recalled.
She was on student council all four years, made the National Honor Society and joined the school's French club and Future Business Leaders of America, among other activities, according to the school's 1991 yearbook.
"Even back then, we knew that she was something special," Henderson said.
For her senior yearbook, Datar wrote that her pet peeves included ignorance and lack of communication. Her future plans to were to go to college, meet an amazing man, have children, "make some money doing something" and be truly happy.
In 2011, Datar reconnected with many of her classmates from high school at the 20-year reunion hosted in Morristown.
"To see what Anita has accomplished in her life makes me proud to have been her friend," classmate Angela McCort said Saturday. "Her devotion to helping others was tremendous, regardless of the danger. Myself and many others are grateful for her friendship and will continue to cherish the many memories we shared."
Helping others
After graduating from Mount Olive, Datar attended Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus, where in 1995 she graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology. She later earned her master's degree in public health and public administration from Columbia University, according to a statement from her family.
Both schools said they were mourning Datar on Saturday.
"Anita Ashok Datar was an outstanding Rutgers graduate with a bright future and a commitment to helping others," Rutgers spokesman Greg Trevor said.
In a message to Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, Dean Linda Fried called Datar an exemplar for all.
Datar was a Peace Corp volunteer for two years in Senegal, and dedicated much of her career as a health expert to advance global health and international development, specifically HIV and reproductive health, according to her family.
Her work took her to Africa, Asia and South America, according to her Linkedin profile.
Most recently, she was a senior manager at Palladium Group, an international development organization based in Washington, her family said. Datar was in Mali with two colleagues who were safetly evacuated from the hotel, Palladium said in a statement.
"She will be remembered as a dedicated humanitarian and a trusted and beloved colleague," the company said.
More so than her work, Datar was most proud of her 7-year-old son, whose photos covered her Facebook page, her family said.
Datar was the former partner of David Garten, an attorney who worked as a senior policy adviser to Clinton in the Senate, according to reports.
In a statement, Clinton said Datar "represented the best of America's generous spirit."
Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.