Anne Hartwell

Anne V. Hartwell, died on December 9 at home in Framingham, MA of pancreatic cancer discovered only three weeks earlier. We who are writing this, her children and husband of 59 years, can only say she was, quite simply, the light of our lives. She was loving, caring and funny in about equal proportions. She also set an example for us by her own accomplishments in the fields of politics and work for disadvantaged persons. Being the daughter of a Rhode Island governor, William H. Vanderbilt, her first love was politics. She worked in the campaigns of John F. Kennedy (president 1960); Robert Kennedy (New York Senate 1964); Adlai Stevenson III (U.S.Senate 1970); Dan Walker (Illinois Governor 1972); Ruth Messinger (Manhattan Borough President 1989); and Paul Tsongas (president 1992). Her interest in helping the disadvantaged was focused on low income housing in New York City. From the early 1970's to the 1990's, she held senior volunteer positions with Mobilization for Youth Legal Services (tenant management); Association for Neighborhood Housing Development (tenant co-ops for purchasing fuel, insurance, etc.); and Bronx Heights Neighborhood Community Corporation (housing related community organizing).

Upon moving to Boston in the early 1990's, she became a volunteer with Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative located south of the city. At other times, she was a participant in the founding of radio station WMCA's Call For Action in New York; Chicago Journalism Review; New York based Women's World Banking; and The New York Women's Foundation. Board memberships included Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Citizens Committee for New York, and Adlai Stevenson Institute.

Her enjoyment of skiing and mountain trekking caused all of us to take up these sports and make them the center of family vacations. Anne is survived by three daughters, Ellen Blais, Charlotte Gesten, and Anne MacNair; a son, Samuel Hartwell, Jr.; eight grandchildren; and her husband, Samuel Hartwell, Sr. Among her parting words she said that misbehavior by any of us would result in corrective visitations by her from above.

A reception will be held for family and friends at 10:30am on Saturday December 13, 191 Clyde Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.