John H. Hebeler

john hebeler
John Henry Hebeler was born on January 2nd, 1931, in Nutley, New Jersey, the second son of Florence and Herman Hebeler. There he, and his older brother George, with whom he was very close, enjoyed what he often described as an idyllic childhood where he and his friends could play and explore safely with little or no adult supervision. When he was eight, his maternal grandmother suffered a stroke, and his family moved to Jersey City to live with her. There he attended the same elementary school his mother had.

When John was about twelve, a neighbor who was a press photographer for the Daily Mirror asked if John would be allowed to help him by running photographic plates across to his newspaper office in New York City. When his parents gave permission, this was to be a significant turning point in John's life. He not only became familiar with NYC, but was also introduced to photography and photographic development. With the money he earned, he bought a camera and set up a dark room in the basement of his house. When he was still twelve, he won a prize for one of his photographs in a competition. As he grew older, he also started exploring art galleries in New York, and with his closest friend, Charles Gnassi, would line up for standing room tickets to the Metropolitan Opera. (On some occasions they would be lucky enough to be given tickets for seats when people left at intermission.)

After graduating from high school, John took college courses in Jersey City and attended classes at the Art Students League in NYC, There he studied under Ernest Feeney until September 1951 when he went to Columbia College in NYC. While there he was nominated for and won the Bravort-Meyer scholarship by his professor of Painting, Peppino (Gino) Mangravite. He also took courses from Margaret Meade and Margarete Bieber. In 1954 he graduated, summa cum laude, and started teaching studio art at the Potomac School in McLean, Virginia where Mangravite was an art education consultant to the head, Carole Preston. When he first moved to McLean, John lived on Evans Farm, at a time when much of McLean was still fields and farmland.

In 1956, no longer deferred from the draft, John served two years in the army, spending much of that time in Gelnhausen, Germany, where he taught high school American history to fellow recruits. While on leave there, he and an army friend visited several European cities, including London, Rome, Paris and Berlin. In 1956 he returned to the Potomac School where he taught art for forty years.



In 1966, he and Sara Newman, who had come from England to teach at Potomac School (and who actually had already purchased her return ticket), were married. They spent the first two months of their honeymoon on Deer Isle, Maine. John was given a grant towards spending time in Europe, visiting schools and painting. After visiting England and Ireland, he and Sara spent 6 months in the Algarve in Portugal, and on their return to the US John had several exhibits of the paintings he had made. On their several visits to England and Ireland, Sara's family and friends became John's family and friends, and they were close till the end, as were his own dear cousins.

With his family and brother George, John spent most summers on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, a place the two brothers had first discovered in the 1950's and where he was often inspired to draw and paint. He also found artistic inspiration on Deer Isle, where he returned several times over the years with Sara and their family.

John retired in 1996 and, until very recently, had continued to pursue his interest in photography, adapting to the digital form of the medium with great enthusiasm. He was a kind and patient man with a mischievous sense of humor, who liked nothing better than to share a good laugh.

John is survived by his wife, Sara, children, Claire (Tom), Andrew (Edit) and Alexander (Lei), as well as his grandchildren, Fiona, Emilia, Tristan and Nicholas.

There will be a Mass for John at St Luke’s Catholic Church in McLean on Friday, February 14th at 11:00am. Following the Mass, there will be light refreshments in the church hall, where all are welcome to share any memories they may have of John.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Doctors Without Borders or a charity of the donor's choice.

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  1. The Family and Staff at the Money and King Funeral Home, wish to express our sincere sympathy to you. It is our hope that we may be able to make a difficult time more bearable. Please feel free to call us anytime as we are always available to you. Bob Gallagher Funeral Director

  2. John is the father-in-law of my daughter Lei who is married to his son Alexander. During my many visits to DC I was very fortunate to share several meals with John, Sara and the family, particularly at Christmas and Thanksgiving. My sisters and I are deeply saddened by his passing. He will always be remembered for his sense of humor, kindness, love of family and forever pleasant demeanor. Sincerest condolences to Sara and the family. May he Rest In Peace!

  3. Sara, I am so sorry for your loss. John was a special person. I knew him as a student and then again as a colleague. He taught both my brother and me art. My brother Craig Davis fondly remembers John and he ended up being a Graphic Designer. I remember as a colleague going down to the Smithsonian to see the monks make a “Mandala”. I went back a few weeks later and they were going to place the sand from the Mandala in the Potomac River. Who did I see there, it was John of course. We walked down to the river together and watched them release the sand. We got to keep a small bag of sand from the Mandala(which I still have.) I am sorry that I will not be able to attend his funeral. I am dealing with my mother, who recently had a stroke. Warm regards, Cathie Kaplan

  4. What a fantastic teacher. I will never forget designing “Brelee” guitars with Lee Fentress in John’s class. Other teachers would have told us to paint a vase or something. But he let us tap into what we were passionate about and taught us through that. He pretty much epitomizes what Potomac is all about. My condolences to the family.

  5. It was with a profound sense of loss that I learned earlier today from my brothers, Steve and Andy Wolf (also Potomac alumni), of John’s passing John was one of the reasons that Potomac School stood out head and shoulders above so many other institutions; like most of the other teachers who shaped our early life experiences there, he recognized each and every one of us as the individuals we were and are, and brought that out in the most creative of ways. Anything positive about who I am I owe in great measure to John and his fellow educators at Potomac. An aspect of my education there I have grown to appreciate greatly over the years was Potomac’s emphasis on the arts, and this played a direct role in my becoming a professional musician, and John was a major player in shaping my focus in this regard. He encouraged us to stretch the boundaries of our creativity without limit, and was quite unique in this regard. He leaves very large shoes to fill.

  6. I send my deepest condolences to Mrs. Hebeler and family. I met Mr. Hebeler as a fourth grader at The Potomac School. Mr. Hebeler represented kindness, patience, tradition, freedom of expression, and a valued spirit to push me to never give up. I learned of his passing this morning, thinking I would share and celebrate my memories of May 1st with my children through the traditions of The Potomac School. My yearly highlight was telling everyone about “The Muffin Man”. I was reading about how the celebration would be virtual, due to the pandemic, then deeply saddened to read that Mr. Hebeler passed. Having him as the greatest art teacher ever, shaped my creativity and fostered memories that I still carry with me today. He retired the same year I graduated high school. The sky was the limit in his class and he would allow you to create ANYTHING your heart desired. His smile, charm, and calming presence will be missed, but his spirit will carry on.


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