Shirley B. Hartmann passed away peacefully on December 7th at her home in Haverhill, MA. She was born on June 11th, 1925 in Cortland, NY, daughter of the late William H. Bayles and Mildred (Shirley) Bayles.
Sister to Edith Faery (James) of East Amherst NY, Wilma Hurtgam (Ronald) of Barker NY, and Steven Bayles (Sue) of West Palm Beach, FL, and the late William Bayles (Joyce) of Lockport, NY. Wife of the late Allen Retzlaff (d.1958) and John Hartmann (d.1996). Mother of Glenn Hartmann (Wayne) of Fulton, NY, Paul Hartmann (Terry) of Tucson, AZ, Nancy Hartmann (Miriam) of Haverhill, MA, and Brian Hartmann (Kelly) of Norfolk VA, and AFS daughters Suzanne Fuchs-Romer of Bonn, Germany and Solange Sufan Arias of Angol, Chile. Grandmother of Mark (d.1990), Jason, Lauren, Adriane, Nancy, Katie, and John. Great-grandmother of Liam, Kyle, Hailey, Deja, Peyton, Allison, Sophia, Samantha, Castian, Brian, and Otto. Aunt to Bill, Ralph, Millie, Joy, Linda, Fran, Cindy, Louis, Keith, David (d,1952), Kathy, Karen, Lora, Michael, Barbara, Amy, Jill, Glenn, and Don.
Shirley graduated Lockport Senior HIgh School in 1944; then attended St. Joseph Business College. As a teen and young woman she was committed to service to others. Although she could not enlist in the military, she supported WWII efforts in her community by volunteering with the Girl Scouts. She continued with Girl Scouting being a troop leader through the years.
Shirley worked as a bookkeeper for five Jays Drug stores and as a telephone operator for the New York Telephone Company. She married Allen Retzlaff in 1949 and moved to Watervliet, Michigan where she was employed as an executive secretary at the Heath Company in Benton Harbor. Upon Allen’s untimely death in 1958, Shirley raised her two boys as a single mom until 1960, when she married John Hartmann and moved back to Lockport, NY to raise their family, expanding to four children. Once her children became school-aged, Shirley worked as a receptionist for Dr. Robert Downes, Orthodontist in Lockport for many years.
She was a longtime member of Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Lockport, NY where she served through the years as an educational assistant, church secretary, financial secretary, children and family ministries, preschool co-founder, day camp director, chancel choir, Girl Scout Leader, Boy Scout troop committee, and United Methodist Women. In 2000 she was awarded the Lay Person of the Year Award for the Batavia District.
In 2000, at the young age of 75, she moved to Merrimac, MA to live near her daughter Nancy. She continued her church ministry with Merrimacport United Methodist Church where she served as their church secretary. When not supporting the church she worked for the Spar and Spindle Girl Scout Council doing database entry, volunteered as a receptionist at the Newburyport American Red Cross and as a swim instructor assistant at the YWCA.
Shirley was most proud of and loved spending time with her family and friends. She was an outdoor enthusiast and adventurer. Many weekends and vacations were spent camping and traveling with the family. Other favorite activities through the years included bowling, swimming, ceramics and quilting.
Throughout her life she was endeared for her beautiful smile, positive “can do” attitude, great sense of humor, and ability to passionately organize others for whatever the cause she believed in. She had many long time friends that she loved to visit with whenever possible.
A virtual memorial service is being planned for Tuesday, December 29th at 5:30 p.m. EST. A family graveside ceremony will be held in the spring at Hartland Cemetery, Hartland, NY.
In lieu of flowers please send donations to:
Emmanuel United Methodist Church, 75 East Ave., Lockport, NY 14094
Merrimacport United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 214, Merrimac, MA 01860
Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley Inc., Suite 400, 280 Merrimack St. Lawrence, MA 01843
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