Obituary of Walteen W. Horchner OShea

On Tuesday June 18, 2019, Walteen W. Horchner OShea, longtime Bernardsville resident and the loving mother of four children, passed away.

She was the daughter of Ethelynn Watton and Walter Watton, MD of Brooklyn, one of the earliest practitioners of pediatric medicine in the country. She attended The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York for high school as well as Yale University and NYU where she earned a BA in Fine Arts.

She married John Horchner in 1959 and they moved to Bernardsville in 1960. They soon acquired a large portion of the former estate of Charles Dana consisting of the maid’s house where the family lived, the carriage house and two barns. After that, the property was a constant work in progress.

She was an avid musician, impressionist painter and art teacher and composer. She wrote and published original music including a 1955 record entitled “Will-Ya, Wont-Cha.” She taught impressionist painting with students in her “cow barn” studio in Bernardsville, at the Somerset Art Association and with students in both public and charter schools after earning a teaching certificate from Kean University.

She was preceded In death by he first husband, Jim Rathbun, her husband of forty years, John P. Horchner and more recently, her husband Michael O’Shea. She is survived by four children: Jennifer Luik as well as Catherine, John and James Horchner. In addition, she is survived by nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be held on Saturday, June 22 at 11 am at the St Bernard’s Episcopal Church in Bernardsville.  For more information or to send an online condolence, please go to www.gcfuneralhome.com