Samuel Adams Hartwell, Sr.

Samuel A. Hartwell, Sr. passed away on July 11, 2019 at the age of 89. He was born in Pittsburgh and lived most of his life in New York City, Boston, and the Berkshires. A graduate of Deerfield Academy, he earned his BA from Princeton (’52). After serving in the US Army, Korean War, he received an MBA from Harvard Business School (’56).  Sam enjoyed 60 wonderful years with his wife and best friend, Anne V. Hartwell (d. 2014). They raised four children with love, conversation, and humor. He had a long and successful career at Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch and was co-Chairman of G.S. Blodgett Corporation. In 1984 Sam co-founded the East Harlem Employment Service (“STRIVE”), a nonprofit that was an early model for workforce development. Twice featured on “60 Minutes”, the organization has directly helped nearly 100,000 people find and keep jobs. STRIVE, and the people who built it, were Sam’s pride and joy. Recently, Sam volunteered his expertise to Community Consulting Teams (“CCT”) in Boston. Sam was an avid reader, conversationalist, skier, and hiker.  He was a devoted husband, father, brother, uncle, and friend.  He was well loved and will be forever missed by his four children, Ellen (Bill) Blais, Charlotte (Shoobie) Gesten, Annie (Alan) MacNair, and Sam (Jennifer) Hartwell, eight grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends, colleagues, and his beloved dog, Clementine. He will be forever remembered for his sense of humor, insight, service to others, intellectual curiosity, and optimism. Now, as he would say, he is off to plead his case at the pearly gates. A memorial service will be held in the fall. Contributions in his memory may be directed to: www.strive.org or www.cctboston.org
 

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