Hightstown:
SHARON R. HENNEBORN, BELOVED ART TEACHER
Sharon R. Henneborn, of Hightstown, passed away on June 20 ,2022, aged 83. Born in Poteau, Oklahoma, on January 7, 1939, she moved to New Jersey in 1969 and began working in the East Windsor Regional School District. She worked in the District until an injury in 2001 forced her to retire.
Ms. Henneborn was a uniquely gifted art teacher. She engaged her students in every aspect of art and encouraged them to think and create on their own. She found a way to connect with every child, especially those on whom other teachers and administrators had given up.
She gained Statewide and nationwide recognition for her work. She was chosen as Governor’s Teacher of the Year for the Ethel McKnight School in 1998-1999 and received the Governor’s Award for Arts Education in 1999-2000. She also received the Elementary Division Eastern Region Award from the National Art Education Association in 2000. Her work and methods were featured in the book The Flower Teachers by Candace J. Stout (2002).
A number of her students went on to make successful careers in art, both in media and teaching. She mentored many student teachers and delivered workshops for Art Educators of New Jersey that were perennially Standing Room Only. She was especially successful in showing teachers how to use art to teach other subjects, including science and math, and to reach students who learned differently. On a more personal level, she truly loved children and animals, and many of them loved her back.
Some of her fondest memories included growing up with loving parents and grandparents, attending high school in Colorado Springs, living with her parents in Scotland, managing programs for the World Learning organization, going to museums and theatrical performances with her husband, and spending time with close friends. But her very fondest memories were of working with students and helping them to succeed. She created a new family for herself wherever she went, and kept them all.
Predeceased by her parents, E.V.and Johnye Johnson, her sister, Mary V. Edgar, and her nephew, James P. Edgar, she is survived by her loving husband of 37 years, Jeffrey J. Richter, her nieces Jeanne Barry and Sarah Seymour of Fredericksburg, Virginia, her grand-niece Allison Barry of California, her grand-nephew John Barry of Lynchburg, Virginia, hundreds of students, many loyal friends, and a special cat, Miss Kitty.
Calling hours will be held from 2pm to 6pm Sunday, June 26, 2022 at the Barlow & Zimmer Funeral Home, 202 Stockton St, Hightstown, NJ 08520. Funeral services will be held at the funeral home Monday at 11am with burial following at Brig. General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Arneytown.