Stephen Edward Waldhorn

Our beloved Stephen Edward Waldhorn, spouse to Mary Waldhorn, incredible father to daughters, Mara Rachel and Hannah Eve, brother to Valerie Auerbach and son of Arthur and Hilda Waldhorn passed away on the morning of December 10, 2025.

Steve led a full life and many thought of him as a Renaissance man. He grew up in New York City where he honed his skills in tennis and violin playing. He attended the High School of Music and Art in New York and then went to the University of Rochester and the University of Virginia where he pursued a PhD in English. He left that endeavor early and became a Blue Grass fiddle player and folk singer traveling along the East Coast doing gigs.

At 30, he moved to Washington D.C. where he notably worked for a poetry organization before he decided to become an educator. He enjoyed wonderful teaching careers at Archbishop Carrol High School where he taught Physics and at his beloved Green Acres School. There he taught 5th and 6th grade Math as well as Animated Film Making at their summer camp. He was a wonderful male role model for his students.

His love for travel started as a young child when he crossed the ocean on the Queen Mary to live in Milan, Italy where his father had a Fulbright. That led him to get his own Fulbright teaching Physics in Bedford, England where his young family also benefitted from the experience. At Green Acres, he helped start a three-week cultural exchange program for Middle School students at the Leonardo Da Vincei School in Lima, Peru. His family got to partake in this as well and loved seeing Machu Picchu among other sites. He also went with students and family members on a whirlwind tour of Italy. When his daughter Hannah attended college in Paris, other European travel opportunities came into play. He also enjoyed many trips to Northern California to visit his daughter, Mara and enjoyed exploring the United States.

Although being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at age 40, he didn’t skip a beat continuing teaching and being an avid fan for all of his daughter’s athletic and educational endeavors.

Steve was an avid tennis player until he had to quit at the age of 57. He loved the sport and enjoyed being a tennis umpire for local events and even the U.S. Open. He always had a hobby. Some of his favorites were bird watching and making digital photo bird collages and constructing mini geodesic domes. He loved music and was a bit of a musicologist. In his later years he enjoyed playing competitive international chess.

Steve was a poster child for how to live your life with Parkinson’s Disease. He lived his life as fully as he could until his mid- seventies. He handled his disease with great grace and courage and his passing came not from Parkinson’s, but cancer which was diagnosed only five months ago.

As an educator he enriched many lives.

His family will always cherish his memory and be grateful that they lived with a gem of a man who had great integrity and was gentle, kind, elegant, talented and intelligent.

He has left a positive imprint on this world.

If you would like to celebrate him in a meaningful way, please consider a donation to

Hospice of Frederick at 1 Frederick Health Way, Frederick, Md. 21701 at https://frederickhealthhospice-bloom.kindful.com/?campaign=1275480

The Nature Conservancy at https://preserve.nature.org/page/177671/donate/

Michael J. Fox Foundation at give.michaeljfox.org