Anne Gay Hartman

Anne Gay Hartman, 86, of Peterborough, NH died peacefully on June 7, 2020 at Monadnock Community Hospital after a brief but sudden illness caused by the reoccurrence of breast cancer. She was born in Hackensack, NJ on June 29, 1933, the daughter of Joseph and Barbara (Hastings) Chaffee.

Gay graduated in 1951 from the Dwight School for Girls in Englewood, New Jersey.  She attended Mount Holyoke College graduating in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History. She raised her two children in Simsbury, CT where she lived for many years. It was here where she reconnected with Rick Hartman who had graduated from the Englewood School for Boys, a school adjacent to the Dwight School for Girls. Thus Gay began a new marriage, enriched by her love of art and painting and her travels with Rick, across Europe to the highest peaks of Switzerland, which ultimately took them both in 2010 to RiverMead, a retirement community in Peterborough, NH.

Before leaving Connecticut, Gay immersed herself in artwork at the Hill Stead Museum in Farmington, a house museum featuring several Monet originals. She began as a docent, became public relations manager and finally acting director. Since moving to New Hampshire, she has taken courses with Betty Glass and Mary Iselin. Gay specialized in creating “series paintings” featuring landscapes, snow scenes, gardens, florals and water reflections. Her preferred medium was water-based oils, which she sometimes combined with acrylic as an under painting. She and another resident were commissioned to do a series of paintings that are permanently installed in the Memory Care neighborhood at RiverMead.  When not painting, Gay also contributed to life at RiverMead as layout specialist for the community’s in-house publication while also serving on RiverMead’s Performing Arts Committee.

In 2015 Gay was awarded the Alumnae Loyalty Award for her volunteer service to her Mount Holyoke Class of 1955 where she served as co-coordinator of her monthly class website. In the past she had also been a class president and served on several fund-raising committees. Her contributions to her class and to the Mount Holyoke alumnae community were outstanding. She was a beloved member of her class.

Gay is survived by her devoted and loving husband and soul mate, Frederic “Rick” Hartman. She was the beloved mother of a blended family consisting of Barbara and Bruce Adams, Bruce Hartman, Thomas Hartman, Jason Hartman and Sarah Hartman Dole. She was also the proud grandmother of Marc Adams, Carolyn Adams, Riley Hartman Dole, Kate Hartman D’Orazio, Ellen Hartman Grulke, Owen Hartman, Morgan Hartman, Audra Hartman, and Connor Hartman as well as great grandmother of Adam D’Orazio, Ben D’Orazio and Emmery Grulke.

A memorial service celebrating Gay’s life will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial  contributions may be made in Gay’s name to the Performing Arts Committee at RiverMead, 150 RiverMead Road, Peterborough, NH 03458.