Michael Erskine Ehringhaus Ph.D., 76, died on April 30, at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, Portland, Maine, after battling cancer since 2020.
Born on May 11, 1946, in Charlotte, Ehringhaus graduated in 1971 with a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Fueled by his passion for teaching, he began his career on Ocracoke Island, working alongside his former wife, Ann Ehringhaus.
He earned his master’s degree in Education from UNC-Charlotte. After completing a fellowship, he continued his studies at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where he met Carolyn, who later became his wife. After receiving a Certificate of Advanced Study in 1977, he and Carolyn taught in a Maori community in New Zealand. Their travels continued to Alaska, where they devoted their efforts to developing adult basic educational services within the Alaskan interior.
In 1986, he and Carolyn left Alaska for doctoral study at Syracuse University. While working at Educational Testing Services in New Jersey, in 1993, Michael and Carolyn had their first and only child, Justin. The family eventually settled in Portland, from where Michael commuted to his job at Measured Progress in New Hampshire, before retiring in 2010.
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To read about Ehringhaus’s time as a teacher on Ocracoke, click The Ocracoke School 1973 Yearbook: Innovation for school and community.
