In Memoriam

George Hodges Bartlett was born on April 10, 1929 and died peacefully on March 1, 2021; he was 91 rich years old. He retired to Eastham, Massachusetts where he and Maggie, his wife of 66 years, lived in the house that he built on the bluff between Nauset Light and Coast Guard beach, which they eventually moved to Tomahawk Trail to escape the erosion caused by the Atlantic Ocean.

George was a model student, having gained his formal education at Groton School in Groton, MA, and Williams College, in Williamstown, MA, but it was his natural curiosity that would fuel his interest in teaching the biological and earth sciences, as well as Latin. After serving as an Air Force pilot in the 13th Bomb Squad during the Korean War, he started his teaching career at Pomfret School in Pomfret, Connecticut. George soon returned to South Kent School in South Kent, Connecticut, where he grew up, which was co-founded by his father, Samuel S. Bartlett. There, he continued to teach, served as Dean of Students, and became Headmaster, a role he performed dutifully for twenty years - he led by example and was much loved by those he served.

It could be said that George grew up in the ideal time for someone with his interests and inclinations. That natural curiosity inspired him to learn just about everything about anything, but his passion was for any and all forms of wildlife – in that arena he was Google, before Google. While he learned much about the flora and fauna of the Cape mucking around during the summers of his youth, he also spent many summers of his adult years as a naturalist for the National Park Service, cool hat and all. He loved to carve birds, whales and other species that he observed and grew to love. Like many retirees, he knew every inch of Nauset Marsh, having traversed it by foot, boat, or dragging a boat, always fully clothed in his dungarees, suspenders and chambray shirts.

George was also an exacting craftsman and produced magnificent dories that were often the subject of photographers on Hemenway’s slippery banks. But he also liked to tinker, and salvaged many a retired lawnmower and outboard from the “transfer station,” having grown up with and under Model A’s and T’s. Simply put, he never met a carburetor that he couldn’t restore to produce a gentle purr in an engine, however fleeting. He saved every bolt, screw, washer or nut he ever bought, found or used, and would regularly pour the contents of one jar or another onto a trash can lid to find the matches for a job at hand. His barn is a treasure trove of nothing and everything useful.

The sum of George’s life was fodder for many stories, told and repeated regularly, a delight to those subject to or of them, but his pride and joy lay in the entertainment and company of Maggie, their children, Polly, Peter, Caroline and Ben, and their grandchildren Woody, Maizie, John, George, Ana, Phoebe and Emma. Summers and Holidays were filled with adventure and festivities that George would initiate or observe with love and controlled glee. He is survived by all of the above, and by his sisters Frances Howes and Sydney Tansi and brother Martin. His eldest sister, Mary Richards, and his parents, Sam and Carol, will see him soon.

Memorial donations may be made to South Kent School, 40 Bulls Bridge Road, South Kent, CT 06785.