Charlotte M. Wisneski

Charlotte Wisneski, 78, Educator

Woodstock, CT – Charlotte “Kit” Wisneski, an educator and private school owner in CT for 43 years, died on June 30 at the Village at Waterman’s Lake in Greenville, RI, a private care facility.  She was 78 and had been a resident of the Village for 18 months.  Her husband of 45 years, Richard Wisneski, was at her side.

Mrs. Wisneski spent many years in the Woodstock and Putnam School systems, taking early retirement from Putnam after 26 years to start her own private early-childhood school in Woodstock in 1989.  Mrs.Wisneski was Directress and teacher at Seton Montessori School until her ultimate retirement from teaching in 2003.

As an educator, Mrs. Wisneski stressed the basic foundations of education and the belief that an environment conducive to learning was more important than any specific curriculum.  She embraced the Montessori Method late in her career, which stressed the need for “young children (to be) given freedom in an environment prepared with materials designed for their self-directed learning activity.”

Charlotte M. Ryan began her teaching career in Wallingford, CT in 1955 after briefly joining a Catholic religious order but leaving before final vows.  From 1961 to 1963, Mrs. Wisneski was one of the first teachers in the newly-formed US Air Force Department Schools Program and served in the 7135 School Group in England and France.  It was during her time in France that Mrs. Wisneski met her future husband, Richard, of Middletown, CT.  They married in 1965.

After 2 years in the Woodstock school system and a five-year sabbatical to raise her children, Mrs. Wisneski joined the Putnam school system in 1972 as a kindergarten teacher and stayed for 26 years.

In 1989, Mrs. Wisneski opened Seton Montessori School to local fanfare and packed classes.  The last students graduated upon her retirement in 2003. 

Before falling ill, Mrs. Wisneski was an avid runner and bicyclist.  She was a communicant, lector and Eucharistic minister at St. Stephen’s Parish in Quinebaug, where she was also married, confirmed and received first communion as a child.  Her ties to the parish began with her grandfather, who helped lay the foundation for the church’s altar.

Mrs. Wisneski was a 1949 graduate and National Honor Society member of Bartlett High School in Webster, MA where she lettered in field hockey, basketball, and softball.  She held a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from the Diocesan Teacher’s College in Hartford, and Masters degrees in Education and Early Childhood Education, both from Worcester State College. 

Charlotte Wisneski leaves her husband, Richard, her daughter Trina Flaherty, grandson Sean Flaherty, her son Danny Wisneski, daughter-in-law Jill Clark and granddaughter Catherine Wisneski.

In her memory, the Wisneski family has created the Charlotte M. Wisneski Memorial Scholarship Fund in conjunction with the KIN foundation, a non-profit entity.  The fund will award full or partial scholarships to qualified CT high school seniors from the community who would otherwise not be able to afford a college education, provided they elect to choose an education major with the intention of becoming a teacher.  For more information or to donate to the fund, go to cmwscholar.com or e-mail danny.wisneski@ge.com.

Calling Hours at the Gilman Funeral Home, 104 Church Street, Putnam, CT are Tuesday, July 6th and Wednesday, July 7th from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and Thursday, July 8th from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.  A funeral mass will begin on July 8th at 11:00 a.m. in Saint Stephen Church, 130 Old Turnpike Road, Quinebaug, CT.  Burial will follow in North Woodstock Cemetery, Rte 197, Woodstock, CT.