HENGST (Milton), Betty
Betty Hengst of Somers, NY, passed away on February 22, 2024 from old age complicated by heart and lung disease. She was five days short of her 85th birthday. Mrs. Hengst was the co-founder and director of Our Montessori School in Yorktown Heights and Carmel, New York, as well as a wonderful mother, wife, grandmother and friend.
Betty was born Betty Brown Milton in 1939, Albany, Georgia, and grew up in Atlanta with her parents, Frances and Bill; and sister, Fran. At the University of Florida, Betty met and fell in love with her future husband, Werner Hengst, and soon after marrying they moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida. Betty had the opportunity to work as a teacher with the pioneering educator Dr. Frank Brown at Melbourne High School, and there she became interested in the Montessori method of teaching children. In 1967, living in Washington, DC, Betty and Werner had a daughter, Christy. Within the year they moved to Peekskill, New York. Betty began teaching, and increasingly found herself wanting to implement the practices she found so inspiring in Montessori education. When Christy's pre-school closed, Betty decided to start her own school, with Werner's support.
Our Montessori School started in 1972 with five children, and over the years grew to, at one point have more than 300 students, in five different locations. The school integrated many creative and practical approaches, and sought teachers and staff who loved what they were doing and were excited to be there. Werner retired from his job at IBM, and together they were a great team. It's not easy to start a school and keep it going; Betty's strength of spirit and determination - some have called her a force of nature - helped to navigate through many crises. Above all, Betty's enthusiasm for fostering love of learning, and having each child be able to work at their own level to encourage success was contagious, and the school flourished and was much loved for 48 years.
In those years also, Betty and Werner's daughter Christy got married, and soon they had two grandchildren, who visited often and many adventures were had.
In 2016, Werner's health failed and with his death, and her own health problems, it became harder for Betty to keep up with running the school. When COVID-19 hit, it was too much and despite efforts to save it, the school had to close. Betty considered that, in addition to her family relationships, the school was absolutely her life's work. Although she was sad that it ended, she knew that many, many children had benefited from the inspiring education they got there.
Betty Hengst is survived by her daughter, Christy; son-in-law, Helmut Hillenkamp; and grandchildren, Oliver and Eliza Hillenkamp of Santa Fe, New Mexico; her sister and brother-in-law, Fran and Tom Patterson; and niece-in-law and nephew, Sharon and Thomas Ira Patterson, and great-grand niece, Paisley Patterson of Atlanta, Georgia.
A memorial service and celebration of Betty's life will be held in May.
