Wendy Warnecke, former Lewisboro Elementary teacher

Wendy Warnecke, a retired Katonah-Lewisboro School District elementary teacher, died at the Meadow Ridge Senior Living in Redding, Conn., on May 15. She was 76. 

She was born on Jan. 23, 1950, in Mamaroneck, to Warren and Mildred Warnecke.

She taught first grade and some second grade at Lewisboro Elementary School under her then-married name, Wendy White, for over 20 years.

She had been diagnosed with inoperable bile duct cancer just two and a half months earlier, and decided to forego the limited treatment options available to combat the aggressive cancer, saying they would only delay the inevitable.

A graduate of Binghamton University, she began her teaching career at Meadow Pond Elementary School in 1980. After briefly teaching in Mamaroneck, she returned to Meadow Pond, where she taught until moving to Lewisboro in 1989. 

She taught first grade at Lewisboro Elementary, until Principal Mary Flynn-Maguire asked her to try a new concept called “looping,” keeping the same group of kids through second grade. Though she enjoyed the experiment, it was not repeated.

Warnecke’s colleagues remember her as a dedicated teacher who cared deeply about the children in her classes, often staying in the classroom until 6 or 7 p.m., to ensure they had their assignments returned the next day. She was known for her patience and calming influence, taking those who had behavioral issues under her wing, and had a lasting influence on her elementary students.

Upon her retirement in 2010, she moved full time to Ocean Park, Maine, where she had been spending summers, and became a fixture in that community, teaching Vacation Bible School and again providing additional support for children who needed it. Friends say she always went the extra mile to help others, and recall her driving a neighbor to chemotherapy sessions in Boston in the midst of a blizzard. Her house became a revolving door of guests.

Warnecke returned to Westchester periodically to help care for her mother, and lived part-time in South Salem and Norwalk, Conn.

After her brother, Wayne, was diagnosed with ALS in 2022 and began receiving hospice care, she decided to sell her house in Maine and move back to the area in order to be closer to him and provide support.

While Wendy did not have children of her own, she spent years essentially serving as a surrogate mother to two boys, years apart, who had difficult family situations. She also took on the role of “honorary grandparent” to Alexandra and Tim Morris, the children of longtime friends Ann-Marie and Jeff Morris of South Salem.

She enjoyed music, played guitar and flute, and attended many Portland Symphony concerts. She was also a big fan of “Doctor Who.” She loved nothing more than setting out for the day on what she inevitably called “an adventure.”

She is survived by her brother, Wayne (Vaneese) of Pound Ridge; her sister Laurie (Glenn) of Norwalk, Conn., her companion of 22 years, Andrew Drelles of Mount Kisco, and other family members.

A private memorial is being planned.