The Honenberger Family
Christopher “Chris” J. Honenberger ’74, J.D. ’77, P ’03, P ’06, P ’09 and Sarah “Sally” Collins Honenberger J.D. ’78, P ’03, P ’06, P ’09 and their children, J. W. Phillip Honenberger ’03, Stuart F. Honenberger ’06 and E. Allison Honenberger Powers ’09 have given generously to William & Mary of their expertise and resources. In 2025, the family established a $100,000 scholarship through the Order of the White Jacket, honoring three generations of the Honenberger family. The Order of the White Jacket is proud and humbled to help carry on the family’s legacy.
Elmer Jay “E.J.” Honenberger Jr., Chris’s father, showed a significant aptitude for learning and received a partial scholarship to attend college. Seeking employment to assist in financing his education, he worked at the local fountain shop, Gibson’s Dairy. E.J. and his wife, Alice May Sinnot, understood the rewards of working in food service and enthusiastically endorsed higher education.
Chris matriculated to William & Mary in the fall of 1970. This led to a five-year career of waiting, bartending and private catering at businesses including George’s Campus Restaurant with Mary and George Dallas and the Hilton 1776 on Bypass Road. Sally paid for her William & Mary Law School tuition by working the graveyard shift at the Howard Johnson’s on Richmond Road. Both Chris and Sally fostered successful legal careers, followed by Chris running numerous businesses and Sally devoting her energies to writing.
Chris and Sally have been active members of the William & Mary community since graduation. Chris has served on boards including the W&M Law School Alumni Association Board of Directors, W&M Law School Foundation Board of Trustees and the OWJ Board of Directors. Sally also served on the W&M Law School Foundation Board of Trustees. Chris’s William & Mary recognitions include receiving the Douglas N. Morton ’62 Alumni Service Award from the W&M Alumni Association in 2001 and the Law School’s Citizen Lawyer Award in 2007.
Chris and Sally’s accomplished children also advanced their own educations and futures by working in food service. While at William & Mary, Phillip worked as a barista in coffee shops while Stuart and Allison worked at The Cheese Shop and The Fat Canary. Their hard work has resulted in their successful careers: Phillip works in academia with a Ph.D. in philosophy, Stuart founded a high-service financial advising firm and Allison is an M.D. who specializes in women’s health and prenatal and postnatal care.
The Honenberger family legacy passes down from generation to generation, and continues to grow with the founding of the Honenberger Family OWJ Scholarship Endowment (5556). Their motivation isn’t receiving accolades, but rather making a difference in the lives of those who follow a similar path. Chris credits his parents as guiding lights for his family, instilling in them the value of education and the dignity of working hard in food service jobs to make that education possible.
