Harry Valentine Meinzer Jr.

Harry Valentine Meinzer Jr., age 91, passed away on Wednesday March 15, 2023 at Granite VNA Hospice House in Concord, NH. Harry was born in Rahway, New Jersey January 24, 1932 to Mr. Harry Valentine Meinzer Sr. and Helen Mary (Empie) Meinzer.

He moved to Summit, New Jersey in 1962. Harry was known for his masterful ability to inspire students with a passion for learning, Meinzer was a teacher and coordinator of the Art Department of Hanover Park High School, East Hanover, NJ for 32 years. Harry was a teacher who uniquely touched the minds and lives of two generations of Hanover Park High School students and colleagues

He started as an art teacher at Battin High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey before joining the faculty at Hanover Park in 1958. He became an institution at Hanover Park and was revered by students and teachers who fondly called him "Uncle Har." He taught and served as coordinator of the Art Department until his retirement in 1990. Meinzer served as advisor to the class of 1963 and as advisor to the school yearbook and was instrumental in establishing the Hanover Park chapter of the National Art Honor Society.

Mr. Meinzer was a life member of the National Art Education Association and served as a National director for the Secondary Division of the Eastern Region of the United States. He was active in the duties of the Art Educators of New Jersey where, over the course of thirty-five years, he served as President, First Vice President and Historian. During his term as President, he established an awards program for art educators who were outstanding in the teaching profession. In 1975, Mr. Meinzer received the associations first Distinguished Service Award and Life Membership.

In 1985, he received the honor of being selected as the Secondary Art Educator of the Year from the National Art Education Association. He served for two years as the New Jersey state delegate to the National States Assembly of the National Art Education Association. On June 3, 1986, New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean presented the Governor’s Award in Arts Education to Mr. Meinzer for his outstanding contributions to education. In 1990, Mr. Meinzer was selected from among the thousands of Art Educators in our nation by the National Art Education Association to receive the Marion Quinn Dix Award. This award is given annually to an outstanding art educator for their leadership roles both in the state and national level. In 1999, he was named a Distinguished Fellow Emeritus by the Art Educators of New Jersey. On May 25, 1999, New Jersey Governor Janet T. Whitman presented Mr. Meinzer with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his many years of service to the field of Art Education.

For twenty five years, Mr. Meinzer served on the Board of Trustees of the Mary Gill Art Scholarship Fund of Morris County, New Jersey as chairman and later as treasurer. He was also a charter member of the Board of Trustees of the Morris County Area Arts Council, serving on its Arts in Education Committee for many years. Mr. Meinzer was president of the Hanover Park Education Association and served as First Vice President of the Morris County At Educators. He is listed in The Outstanding Secondary Educators of America, The Community Leaders of America, the 1996 edition of Who's Who Among America's Teachers and was selected for inclusion in the first edition of Who's Who In Art, Architecture, and Design.

Mr. Meinzer held memberships in the National Education Association, the New Jersey Education Association, and was a life member of the National Art Education Association and the Art Educators of New Jersey. He was a member of the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and a charter member, president, benefactor and Paul Harris Fellow of the Hopkinton Rotary Club. Mr. Meinzer was also a member of the New Hampshire Antiquarian Society. For over 50 years, He was a member of the Copeston-Ophir Lodge of the F & A M of Kearny, New Jersey. For many years, Mr. Meinzer served on the board of directors of Dial-A-Ride in Contoocook, New Hampshire.

Before his retirement, Mr. Meinzer was a member of the Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, New Jersey, where he served as a Deacon and sang Tenor in the Motet Choir. Mr. Meinzer earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Art Education from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania in 1954 and in 1974 he received the Alumni Citation Award in recognition of outstanding achievements and services to education. In 1981, Mr. Meinzer was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association, on which he served for five years. Mr. Meinzer was an army veteran who had served in the U.S. Honor Guard with the 6th Infantry Regiment in Berlin, Germany from 1954 to 1956. In 2010, He became a member and served as chaplain and in the Honor Guard Squad for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 11490 in Contoocook, New Hampshire. After his retirement from teaching in 1990, Mr. Meinzer moved to Hopkinton, New Hampshire where he became a member of the First Congregational Church. Mr. Meinzer was also a member of the Chancil choir for 24 years, chairman of the Music & Arts committee and served on the Diaconate and Board of Trustees.

He is survived by a sister, Marcia Ann Griffin of Harwich, MA, a niece, Kerri Lynn Griffin of Macungie, PA, and his Godson, Allan B. Hall of Brentwood, NH.

Calling Hours will be held on Thursday March 30, 2023 from 5:00PM to 7:00PM at Bennett Funeral Home located at 209 North Main Street, Concord, NH. A Funeral Service will be held on Friday March 31, 2023 at 10:30am at the First Congregational Church located at 1548 Hopkinton Road, Hopkinton, NH. The burial will be held at the family plot at Slate Hill Cemetery in Sharon Springs, New York, date and details to follow.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in his name to the First Congregational Church of Hopkinton Endowment Fund or Organ Enhancement Fund.