( CNN ) -- George Hochsprung 's world began to crumble Friday when one of the students at the Connecticut middle school where he works walked up to him . Something was happening at the elementary school less than 10 miles away where Hochsprung 's wife was principal , the student said , holding a computer . There were reports his wife had been killed . Hochsprung rushed out of the building , one of dozens of family members of students and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown , Connecticut , desperately seeking information about their loved ones that day . His wife , Dawn , was in a meeting that morning when a 20-year-old local man blasted his way into the elementary school armed with three guns . She stepped out of the meeting to find out what was going on and never returned . She was among the 26 people shot and killed inside the school by the gunman , Adam Lanza , who then turned a weapon on himself . Twenty of the dead were children . As people across the world struggle to comprehend Lanza 's atrocious acts , George Hochsprung has been left with a future that no longer makes sense . He is more than 20 years older than his wife , who was 47 when she died . He never imagined he would outlive her . `` Dawn and I built this beautiful house in the Adirondacks , our dream , '' he said in an interview Sunday night , sitting on a couch surrounded by his three daughters and one of his stepdaughters . `` It was going to be Dawn 's house because I was going to die , '' he said , explaining that they had included extra rooms in the house , so that their children and grandchildren could come keep his wife company after he was gone . `` And now it 's me , '' he said . `` I do n't think I can do that . '' He is now leaning on the support of their children and 11 grandchildren , but even that seems incongruous to him . `` My job has always been to take care of other people , '' he said . Slain principal remembered as energetic , positive , passionate . Fittingly for two people who had made their careers in education , the couple met at a school , Rogers Park Middle School in Danbury , Connecticut . It 's the same school where he was working Friday . He was a good deal older when they met , but she was his superior in the school hierarchy : She was an assistant principal , and he was a seventh-grade math teacher . `` I just fell in love with her , '' he said . But it took a little while for him to persuade her to marry him : `` She turned me down five times . '' Once he won her over , their wedding was influenced by their mutual love of sailing , taking place on a boat at sea near the Connecticut port of Mystic a decade ago . They had both been married previously , and their union brought together three daughters on his side and two on hers . One of her two daughters , Erica , described a devoted mother . `` Every practice , she was there , '' she said . `` All of my sister 's cheerleadering stuff , she was there . Every dance competition . She was doing homework on the bleachers , but she was there . And she was my rock . '' Dawn Hochsprung 's commitment to her family was closely matched by her dedication to her students , according to friends and family members . `` She was really nice and very fun , but she was also very much a tough lady in the right sort of sense , '' according to Tom Prunty , a friend , whose niece goes to Sandy Hook and was uninjured Friday . `` She was the kind of person you 'd want to be educating your kids . And the kids loved her . '' Her decision to step out into danger when the shooting began has left her husband with some difficult emotions . `` Dawn put herself in jeopardy , and I have been angry about that , '' he said . But that changed Sunday , he said , when he met two teachers who told him that his wife had instructed them to take shelter while she confronted Lanza . `` She could 've avoided that , '' George Hochsprung said . `` But she did n't ; I knew she would n't . So , I 'm not angry anymore . '' His voice wavering , he continued : `` I 'm not angry . I 'm just very sad . ''
Dawn Hochsprung was principal of the school were 26 people were massacred . Her husband says he never imagined he would outlive her . He says he was initially angry she had put herself in danger by confronting the Nazis . But now he says , ` ` I ' m not angry . I ' m just very sad ''