Mary Hartman
Lancaster, Pa. — Mary Stoughton (Olds) Hartman, 97, formerly of Mystic, died Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, in Lancaster. To the end of her days, she maintained her marvelous wit and sense of humor.
She was born on Dec. 2, 1920, in Englewood, N.J., the daughter of Edward Allen Olds Jr. and Edith Jane (Mitchell) Olds. She was descended from Robert Olds, who emigrated from England to Connecticut in 1667.
Her paternal grandfather, Edward Allen Olds, became a soap manufacturer and owned Mystic’s noted Packer’s Tar Soap Company, a business carried on by her father, who relocated the family to Mystic in the 1930s. Her maternal grandfather, Archibald Mitchell, emigrated from County Fife, Scotland in 1869, and learned the dry goods business in Norwich, where he settled. His department store had branches in Connecticut, Maine, Michigan and Indiana. An avid fly fisherman, he invented the Mitchell salmon fly and established Runnymede Lodge for fishing in New Brunswick, Canada.
Mary attended the Dwight School in Englewood, N.J., graduating in 1940, and then entered the Rhode Island School of Design. Her studies ended when she married William Davies Hartman in Mystic on June 12, 1943. During their 55 years of marriage they lived in Hartford and Mystic. They traveled widely and made many summer cruises on their boat, Little Bear. Mary also volunteered at the Westerly Hospital Gift Shop for many years. She was an active member of the Mystic Congregational Church.
She was predeceased by her parents; her brothers, Edward Allen Olds III, David K. Olds and Gordon M. Olds; and her husband, who died in 1998.
She is survived by her nieces, Barbara (Olds) Haldeman, Isabel (Olds) McIver and Iva Jane Campbell; her nephew, Gordon Mitchell Olds; and numerous great-nieces and nephews and great-great-nieces and nephews.
With characteristic modesty, Mary considered herself “a person of few talents and many blessings.” A friend’s singing teacher had told her she had no talent, and she decided to agree, as the teacher happened to be Frank Sinatra (prior to his fame).
Looking back on a long and happy life, Mary commented: “If you can, remember me, once in a while, with a smile— that’s just right. Now I’m ready to move on.”
A funeral service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 8, 2018, at the Mystic Congregational Church (UCC), 43 E. Main St., Mystic. Burial will be in the Elm Grove Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Mystic Congregational Church or the Mystic and Noank Library. — Committee of the Whole, 7:30 p.m., Municipal Building.
— Board of Education, 6 p.m., Town Hall Annex, Conference Room 1; Representative Town Meeting special meeting, 6 p.m., Town Hall Annex, Conference Room 2.
— Board of Assessment Appeals special meeting, 4 p.m., Town Hall, assessor’s office; Town Council special meeting, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall Annex, Conference Room 1; Town Council Committee of the Whole, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall Annex, Conference Room 1; Noank Fire District Parks Commission, 7 p.m., Noank Fire House; Planning Commission, 7 p.m., Town Hall Annex, Conference Room 2.
— Groton Housing Authority, 3 p.m., Grasso Gardens; Inland Wetlands Agency, 7 p.m., Town Hall Annex, Conference Room 2; Town Council special meeting (budget public hearing), 7 p.m., Groton Senior Center; Zoning Board of Appeals, 7 p.m., Town Hall Annex, Conference Room 1.
— Town Council Committee — Open Space Committee, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall.
— Public Safety Commission, 6 p.m., Town Hall, Council Chambers; Town Administration, Rules and Procedures Standing Committee, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall, Room 102.
— Planning and Zoning Commission, 7 p.m., Town Hall, Council Chambers.
— Public Works Solid Waste Standing Committee, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall, Room 102; Parks and Recreation Commission, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall, Council Chambers.
— Board of Education, 7 p.m., Science & Technology Magnet High School, Lecture Hall. — Hewitt Farm Committee,
— ADA Committee, 11 a.m., Town Hall; Connecticut Port Authority, 2 p.m., Town Hall; Duck River Garden Club, 6 p.m., Town Hall; Sound View Commission, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall.
— Safety Committee, 9:30 a.m., Town Hall; Board of Finance, 7 p.m., Town Hall; Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission, 7 p.m., Town Hall.
— Pension Committee, 2 p.m., Town Hall. — CT Audubon Society, 10 a.m., Town Hall; Harbor Management Commission, 4 p.m., Town Hall.
— Board of Finance budget hearing, 7 p.m., Town Hall.
— Recreation and Parks Commission, 4 p.m., Community Center; Senior Citizens Commission, 4 p.m., Community Center.
— Board of Finance public budget hearing, 7 p.m., Town Hall; Planning and Zoning Commission special meeting, 7 p.m., Town Hall.