Hartley Dodge Webster

Hartley D. Webster 1938 – 2025 On November 15th, 2025, Hartley Dodge Webster of Pownal, Maine passed away quietly in the company of his loving wife and soulmate, Benson, and family members, thus embarking on his next adventure. Hartley burst onto the scene a scant 7 minutes after his twin brother Jay on October 30, 1938. For them, their first breaths coincided with their mother, Geraldine’s last breath. This profoundly tragic beginning laid the groundwork for what would become a deeply fulfilling life. Raised in Riverdale, New York by his father Jerome, a physician of note in the early days of plastic surgery, both Jay and Hartley attended local schools before arriving at Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire where their father had been in the class of 1906. Hartley’s grandfather, the Rev. Lorin Webster, was Rector (Headmaster) leading the school from 1892 until 1922. Both brothers graduated from Holderness in 1957. From there Hartley moved on to Dartmouth from which he graduated with a BA in 1961. This led him to Harvard where he earned his MA in teaching in 1964; and then later to the Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary where he earned his Theological Degree in 1989. Believing that they should learn to work hard, an early job for both Hartley and Jay was work on a super tanker, where they started at the bottom and worked their way up. Hartley will tell you that the worst job he ever had was cleaning the tar from the walls of the crude oil tanks. Later, as able bodied seamen, they would work topside taking turns standing watch from the bridge. This experience led to Hartley’s service as a commissioned Naval Officer during the early sixties and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He barely missed combat duty during that historic standoff. Back at home he taught math and Spanish at Nashoba Regional High School for three years, followed by a long stretch as owner and manager of Whitney Lane Farm in Harvard, MA raising Angus cattle. After marrying Karen Smith they settled in at their farm to raise their three children, Christin, Jennie, and Daniel. They also enjoyed frequent escapes to their home at Sugarloaf where they would spend winter weekends and vacations for many years. Hartley’s love of skiing was sparked as a ski racer at Holderness and would become a lifelong passion. Upon selling the Farm, the family moved to Birdsong, their seaside home in Southport, Maine. Following the farm years he became the owner and general manager of a closely held corporation based in Weston, MA. For his seminary training he did his first year internship at South Church in Andover, MA, then moving on to Trinity Congregational Church in Bolton, MA where he was ordained and served as a teacher and assistant Pastor for seven years, before retiring and settling in Maine. In 1972 Hartley joined the Board of Trustees of Holderness School serving until 1988. He was awarded the school’s Distinguished Service Award in 1987. During that time he was most proud to have served on the school’s Commission for Coeducation, paving the way for his own daughter, Jennie, to later attend Holderness. His volunteer work also led him to the Agricultural Planning Board of Harvard MA for many years. He was also the Chair of the Ministry Board of the Sugarloaf Christian Fellowship as well as Overcomer’s Outreach, a Christian Recovery Ministry. Hartley and Karen divorced and he would later meet his soon to be wife Benson at a conference at Sugarloaf. The gift of sobriety and helping others find it had become a forty plus year path for both of them. They were married in 2002 by Benson’s brother Steve, in a Buddhist ceremony. In later years they settled into their lovely home in the countryside of Pownal, Maine, where they planted and cultivated thousands of seasonal flowers, built a pond, all the while finding time to travel to exotic destinations in the colder months of the year. In 2013 Hartley was diagnosed with throat cancer, resulting in a tracheotomy which later limited their traveling. In Benson’s loving care, however, Harley still thrived and was most happy when walking behind his mower maintaining their 18 acres of fields and forests. Anyone who knew Hartley will remember the sparkle in his blue eyes that implied his slightly mischievous, but always kind way of being. Well read, deeply spiritual, and with a great sense of humor, through Hartley and Benson’s almost three decades together they shared an enduring time of great love, devotion, and mutual kindness. Predeceased by his parents, as well as his sister Geraldine, Hartley leaves his wife and soulmate, Benson, children Christin (Pat) of Wellesley MA, Dan (Trina) of Shelburne, VT, and Jennie (Matt) of Media, PA, as well as Benson’s children David (James) of Somerville, MA, and Katie of Portland, ME. He also leaves his children’s mother Karen Brower of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, as well as his twin brother Jay, and his wife Patti of Carbondale Colorado, as well as nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Hartley leaves us all with a reminder of his personal motto – “Be known by the marks that distinguish a believer in God. These are Honesty, Purity, Unselfishness, Love, Gratitude, and Humility”. Should you wish to make a Memorial Gift in Lieu of Flowers, please consider adding to the Hartley D. Webster Scholarship Funds at Holderness School, PO Box 1879, Plymouth, NH 03264. A Celebration of Hartley’s Life will follow on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at 11 a.m. at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 396 Gilman Road, Yarmouth, Maine, 04096.

Hartley Dodge Webster

October 30, 1938 - November 15, 2025