Tedde Moore, the actress who played Miss Shields, the teacher of Peter Billingsley’s Ralphie Parker in the holiday classic A Christmas Story, has died.

Moore died on Aug. 5, according to a post on her Facebook page. She was 79.

“On Wednesday August 5th under sunny skies overlooking Fairy Lake, Tedde passed away surrounded by family physically and spiritually in her beloved Huntsville Muskoka,” the Facebook post reads. "Her bravery in this choice was almost overwhelming, beyond beautiful and also difficult. Forever the teacher, she had a quote for every occasion and a special way of touching the lives and hearts of everyone she met.

“Her magic and love will be remembered by all she took under her generous and welcoming wings.”

Directed by Bob Clark, A Christmas Story — which chronicles Ralphie’s hopes of getting a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas — was released in 1983. Moore and Billingsley appear together in various classroom scenes throughout the film.

In a YouTube video posted in in 2021, Moore expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to be in the film, saying, “I just wanted to tell you how much it has meant to me to be part of A Christmas Story family, and we are a family. None of us would be here today if weren’t for the gigantic heart of Bob Clark, and who had a very good sense to recognize the cinematic quality of the extraordinary, heartfelt writing of Jean Shepherd.”

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Tedde Moore Appeared In More Than Three-Dozen Screen Roles

Born Dorothea Mavor Moore on April 11, 1947, in Toronto, Tedde Moore made her screen debut as Thea Moore in a guest role in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s anthology series Encounter in 1961.