Constance Dembrowsky

Constance Dembrowsky
Celebration of Life
4/16/1944 - 11/9/2020
An outdoor Celebration of Life will be held in Connie's honor on November 13, 2021, at 12:30 p.m. up La Luz Canyon near her former residence.  The family cordially invites friends and colleagues to attend.  Please RSVP to Evelyn at eyecastro@gmail.com for directions.  In the event of inclement weather, backup plan is Scenic Chapel, 1334 Scenic Dr., Alamogordo.

Constance Dembrowsky

Loving Wife and Mother, and Renowned Educator

Once in a while, someone special comes along and makes the world a much much better place. Connie Dembrowsky was that very special person who meant so very much to all of us.

Constance (Connie) Dembrowsky, age 76, passed away on November 9, 2020, in El Paso, Texas. She was a wonderful wife, mother, daughter, aunt, and friend, as well as an internationally recognized speaker, author and educational consultant for school districts.

Connie was born on April 16, 1944, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Dane and Pauline (Hoffman) Egbert. The family moved to northern California in 1946 where she attended school. Her college years were very diverse. She started at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California, and was fortunate enough to spend a year at the University at Vienna, Austria, where she became proficient in German and was able to work as a translator and interpreter. Upon her return she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California Davis (BA), where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Upon graduation she worked as an elementary teacher in Davis, California, and loved it dearly. She adored the children and commented often that she could not believe she was being paid to have so much fun. She then returned to the University of Vienna for a year of graduate study. She developed a deep fondness for helping children with special learning needs. She subsequently obtained her MA in Exceptional Children at the University of South Carolina, and began specializing in Special Education for children with learning disabilities, and out of this she established the Institute for Affective Skill.  Connie devoted her life to helping students who were struggling, disengaged, noncompliant or adjudicated, turn their lives around and become successful. She was a compassionate and caring foster mother to many; however, her most prized role was being mother, mentor and teacher to her adopted daughter, Evelyn. 

Connie was a consultant for school districts, juvenile justice programs, special education associations and parent groups, and she taught at all levels of school and university, as well as in juvenile prison in Alaska. Her favorite teaching adventure was working with schools in small, very remote native villages (no hotel, no restaurant and no running water!) across the Northwest Territories in Canada and in isolated areas of Alaska. She also taught for a period of time in Bangkok, Thailand, where she was stationed with her first husband.  She ran a large Federal Special Education Grant for the University of Houston, was Director of Special Education in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and later held the same position in Tularosa, New Mexico.  Connie settled in La Luz Canyon, New Mexico. She conducted thousands of seminars for teachers, counselors, administrators, juvenile justice personnel and parents throughout the world. She authored curriculum programs in the areas of personal and social responsibility, mastering anger and resolving conflict, and was considered an expert in the field of affective education for at-risk youth. She authored numerous articles and books, and two extraordinarily effective curriculum programs: “Personal and Social Responsibility”, and “Mastering Anger/Resolving Conflict.” She traveled the world to present and hold workshops. Her curriculums are widely used throughout schools in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam, Samoa, the Caribbean, and Europe, as well as by First Nations Bands in Canada, and in various Native American reservations in the US.  Connie was a talented, devoted and exceptional individual, who had a God-given gift for helping young people realize their potential, not only succeeding in life but also excelling.

 “ Every action you take is an expression of the choices you’ve made about the effect you want to have on the world.“  ~ Constance Dembrowsky ~

Connie is survived by her adoring husband, Albert Schenker, and loving daughter, Evelyn Castro, as well as by many extended family members and friends who will forever cherish and honor her memory.  She will be greatly missed by all, including her special Sisters of P.E.O., Chapter BI.  Connie is preceded in death by her loving father, Dane Egbert, loving mother, Pauline Egbert, and brother, Dane Kenneth Egbert.

A Celebration of Life gathering in honor of Connie will be held later this year. The family requests that any remembrances of Connie may be achieved by a donation to any nonprofit group for children. 

The Dembrowsky family has entrusted their loved one to the care of Scenic Chapel, Alamogordo, New Mexico. To sign the online register book, please visit https:\\www.scenicchapel.com, and please leave a note and email address if you would like to receive notice of her Celebration of Life.

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