Teaching was Charlotte woman’s professional passion, but her family and community of friends defined her
Kristine Sheathelm Gerson passed away peacefully in her home on June 23, 2025. Her death followed a long period of enduring a brutal lymphoma. She remains a beautiful young woman in the eyes of her loving family and wonderful friends. Kristine was born in Colorado Springs, Colo., on January 26, 1957. She spent her early years in Lansing, Mich., alongside her brother, Kurt, before moving to Storrs, Conn., during elementary school. Her father taught at the University of Connecticut, and her mother taught in the Mansfield Public Schools. It was in Storrs that she met and fell in love with her husband, Bill. She initially attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, but after deciding that teaching was her future, she transferred to Wheelock College in Boston. After graduation, she and Bill married, and she moved to Baltimore to be with him during his medical school years. They lived at the Garrison Forrest School as dorm parents. Teaching was her professional passion. She taught first in Rockville, Md., where she taught both art and special education. She then taught in the Baltimore Public Schools in a self-contained special education classroom in south Baltimore until she had her first child, Zachary, and the new family moved to Boston. She spent six years in Boston while Bill was at the Children’s Hospital, and the family added two more sons, Jacob and Elijah, while also running a home daycare. The family moved to Charlotte, Vt., in summer 1988, when Bill joined Pediatric Medicine in South Burlington. Their fourth son, Abraham, was born soon after the move. Kristine continued to provide home daycare in Charlotte, taught at the religious school at Temple Sinai in South Burlington and gave back to her local community by founding, along with her friend Marty Ditchey, the Charlotte Food Shelf, for which she was later honored as Volunteer of the Year by the town. Kristine went on to teach first and second grade at Charlotte Central School for 20 years, until her illness and the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated her early retirement. She made true friends among her colleagues and wishes to thank them, especially Peggy Coutu, Kathy Lara and Rookie Manning, for the love they showed her as her disease progressed. At Charlotte Central School, she treasured her work as the school union representative and was especially thankful for the love and support she received during her illness from…
Teaching was Charlotte woman’s professional passion, but her family and community of friends defined her
Kristine Sheathelm Gerson passed away peacefully in her home on June 23, 2025. Her death followed a long period of enduring a brutal lymphoma. She remains a beautiful young woman in the eyes of her loving family and wonderful friends. Kristine was born in Colorado Springs, Colo., on January 26, 1957. She spent her early years in Lansing, Mich., alongside her brother, Kurt, before moving to Storrs, Conn., during elementary school. Her father taught at the University of Connecticut, and her mother taught in the Mansfield Public Schools. It was in Storrs that she met and fell in love with her husband, Bill. She initially attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, but after deciding that teaching was her future, she transferred to Wheelock College in Boston. After graduation, she and Bill married, and she moved to Baltimore to be with him during his medical school years. They lived at the Garrison Forrest School as dorm parents. Teaching was her professional passion. She taught first in Rockville, Md., where she taught both art and special education. She then taught in the Baltimore Public Schools in a self-contained special education classroom in south Baltimore until she had her first child, Zachary, and the new family moved to Boston. She spent six years in Boston while Bill was at the Children’s Hospital, and the family added two more sons, Jacob and Elijah, while also running a home daycare. The family moved to Charlotte, Vt., in summer 1988, when Bill joined Pediatric Medicine in South Burlington. Their fourth son, Abraham, was born soon after the move. Kristine continued to provide home daycare in Charlotte, taught at the religious school at Temple Sinai in South Burlington and gave back to her local community by founding, along with her friend Marty Ditchey, the Charlotte Food Shelf, for which she was later honored as Volunteer of the Year by the town. Kristine went on to teach first and second grade at Charlotte Central School for 20 years, until her illness and the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated her early retirement. She made true friends among her colleagues and wishes to thank them, especially Peggy Coutu, Kathy Lara and Rookie Manning, for the love they showed her as her disease progressed. At Charlotte Central School, she treasured her work as the school union representative and was especially thankful for the love and support she received during her illness from…