GUTTENBERG AND BEYOND — A Guttenberg resident and mother of two committed suicide Sunday night and her family and the surrounding community have been grieving since then.
According to Capt. Joel Magenheimer, police responded to Sherry R. Hull-Michel’s home on 70th Street at 12:02 a.m. on Jan. 25. Hull-Michel, 41, had hung herself on her shower with a scarf.
Magenheimer said that her 11-year-old son went looking for her and found her. Her 13-year-old son cut his mother down after getting a knife from the kitchen and advising his brother to dial 911, said Magenheimer.
Magenheimer said that Hull-Michel was well known to the town and the school system and that everyone was shocked by her death.
Magenheimer said that those who were close to her knew that Hull-Michel was facing severe financial hardships, but that she was still in “good spirits.” She also suffered from multiple sclerosis.
He said that the children’s godparents received permission from the State of New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families to take custody of the children.
According to police, Hull-Michel had text messaged a friend earlier on Jan. 24 at 8:13 p.m. mentioning suicide.
On Facebook.com, friends created a group called “We Miss you Sherry Star Hull!!” The page is located here.
A memorial service for Hull-Michel will be held Friday, Jan. 29 at Vainieri Funeral Home. Donations for her children are being accepted in lieu of flowers.
For much more on this story, read this weekend’s North Bergen Reporter, or click on this page, www.hudsonreporter.com, on Sunday and scroll down to “North Bergen News.”