Sharon Christa Corrigan was born in Boston on Sept. 2, 1948, the daughter of Grace and Edward G. Corrigan. She grew up in Framingham, Mass., a Boston suburb.
Although she was christened 鈥淪haron,鈥� she was called Christa from the start, and once told a reporter she had not known her given first name until she read the certificate for her First Holy Communion.
At Marion High School, a parochial school, she participated in activities ranging from basketball to the Girl Scouts to glee club, and started a holiday food-basket program for the needy.
She also met her future husband, Steven J. McAuliffe, at Marion High School, recalling alter that she had noticed him on the first day of her sophomore year. They married in 1970, the same year she graduated from Framingham State College with a degree in history.
After their marriage, the McAuliffes lived for eight years in Washington, D.C., where Mr. McAuliffe attended law school and worked as a defense lawyer for the Army.
While in Washington, Christa McAuliffe taught fulltime, waited on tables part-time, and earned a master鈥檚 degree in educational administration from Bowie State College in Maryland.
In 1978, the couple moved to New Hampshire, where Mr. McAuliffe went to work for the attorney general鈥檚 office, and Ms. McAuliffe taught in a number of public schools.
While teaching at Bow Memorial School near Concord, N.H., in the early 1980鈥檚, Ms. McAuliffe was president of the local affiliate of the National Education Association. Mel Myler, executive director of the state affiliate, recalled how Ms. McAuliffe 鈥渢ook on the local school board鈥� over a conflict concerning the teachers鈥� contract.
In New Hampshire, an entire town votes on the contract, Mr. Myler explained, saying that Christa had 鈥減resented the teachers鈥� views to the community--and won.鈥� Those were pivotal years in her development as a teachers鈥� advocate, he said.
In 1982, Ms. McAuliffe began teaching at Concord High School, where she taught social studies and a course on the American woman.
In New Hampshire, she led a Girl Scout troop, hosted inner-city students who came north to New England for study, taught religious classes at St. Peter鈥檚 Church in Concord, performed in community theater, and worked as a family-planning counselor.
She also raised two children, Scott, now 9, and Caroline, 6.
鈥淐hrista was unique, but she wasn鈥檛 unique,鈥� Mr. Myler said. 鈥淚n most cases, specialness comes through where you go to school, how much money you make. She had unique qualities, but she didn鈥檛 bring with her all those material qualities Americans equate with success. She embraced the qualities of a good teacher.鈥�
Until the tragedy, he said, 鈥渨e in Concord had no idea of the impact she had on the nation. We were wrapped up in the fact that she was a colleague and a friend.鈥�
That national impact was apparent last week in the hundreds of cards, telegrams, and flowers sent to Concord High School, he said. It was also reflected in memorial services held around the country, culminating last Friday with a national service for all of the crew members at the Lyndon B. Johnson Spaceflight Center in Houston.
Mr. McAuliffe was expected to attend the Houston ceremony, as were the President and Mrs. Reagan, members of Congress, and other public officials.
