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Mrs. Mary Jean Afflick Hartigan
Jeanie passed away peacefully from natural causes in the Duncaster assisted-living facility in Bloomfield, Connecticut on Sunday, September 10, 2017. She was 95, celebrating her birthday (August 22, 1922) with a dozen family members just a week before she died.
Born to Charles W. and Frances R. Afflick of Blytheville, she was a popular drum majorette before attending Hollins College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA in Sociology, 1944), where she joined the Pi Beta Theta sorority.
While home from college she met William Robert Hartigan from Burlington, Connecticut, a student pilot at the Blytheville Army Air Base. They were married in 1944 and moved to Brussels, Belgium travelling throughout Europe and skiing the Alps. They lived in Hartford, Conn. and West Hartford, Conn., raising sons Bill, Charlie and Phil. Jeanie moved into Duncaster in 1992 because as she often recounted, "I didn't want to be a bother".
Jeanie was always outgoing and happy, bringing joy to family, friends and the wonderful staff at Duncaster. “Oh goodie!” was a favorite response, her glass always half full. Above all, she will be remembered by those whose lives she touched as a giving, loving, active, positive person who was amazingly grateful for the many small pleasures of life, in particular, the beauty of nature.
She loved to travel, visiting Scotland to play golf with friends and St. Petersburg, Russia to tour the Hermitage Museum. She was active at golf and tennis in her younger years, but enjoyed the pool at Duncaster and walking outdoors right to the end.
Jeanie was always involved in art, painting with watercolor and volunteering at Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum Museum. Her paintings adorn the walls of Duncaster and the homes of her children and friends. She loved to take pictures, (before digital cameras) and had a special eye for composition.
Throughout her life Jeanie was very involved at Asylum Hill Congregational Church and Hartford Hospital, where she served as a lay chaplain and volunteered in other roles.
Jeanie is survived by her brother, Charles Willis Afflick, Jr. (Carter) of Blytheville; three sons, William R. Hartigan, III (Sandy) in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Charles Afflick Hartigan (Barbara) in Canton, Connecticut and Philip Meade Hartigan (Linda) in Southborough, Massachusetts. She is also survived by eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren with another boy due in January.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Asylum Hill Congregational Church or Duncaster Community Center