Charlotte Hickox Isham

A memorial service will be held October 4 for Dr Charlotte Hickox Isham, a former teaching principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Dr Isham grew up on her father’s farm in Woodbury.  She went to Danbury State Teacher’s College and started teaching in the Holt School in Plymouth in 1934. She also taught at Campville School in Harwington, Bantam School in Litchfield, and became a teaching principal at Sandy Hook School in Newtown. She became elementary supervisor and supervisor of instruction in the Woodbury schools in 1943.

She was a member of many organizations, including the AAUW (American Association of University Women), AAUP (American Association of University Professors), Connecticut Teachers Association, and she was a life member of the National Education Association.

In 1962, she became a professor at Western Connecticut State University where she was in the education department. She got her master’s degree in education from Yale in 1964 and a doctorate in education from Harvard in 1967.

Professor Isham wrote many articles for grade school teachers, and she held a certificate from the Outstanding Educators of America. She is listed in the Who’s Who in American Education.

 She wrote children’s books including Freddie’s Discoveries about Freddie, the little fish that lived in the river that flowed through her Connecticut farm, and Matilda Mae Manate,  about a manatee that comes into the lagoon at Blue Springs, Florida, each winter.

Dr Isham was an excellent bowler and loved horses. For years she would hitch her horse to a sleigh each winter and give everyone rides. She was a member of the North Congregational Church in Woodbury, and served on many of its committees and activities. She was also a proud member of Eastern Star and a past matron in her Connecticut chapter.

She moved to Florida in 1976 when she retired, but returned to Connecticut each year until 1997 for the summer months. She was an inspiration to all whom she met, always willing to help. Her favorite saying was, “Let’s go!”

A memorial service will be held Saturday, October 4, at 2 pm, at the North Congregational Church of Woodbury located at North Main and Washington Road. Graveside services will be followed by a reception at the church sponsored by the women of the church.

The Newtown Bee        October 3, 2003