Emmy Lu Hartley

Born Emmy Lu Walsh in 1928 in Manchester, Connecticut, she grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, where she attended the Oxford School for Girls. She skipped the first grade because of her excellent scholarship, starred in the class play and in her senior year, she was the class president.

She attended Connecticut College, which she graduated in 1949 with a Bachelors degree and a major in Social work. While at Connecticut, she appeared in a production of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town", directed by (Oscar winning actress) Estelle Parsons, who was a classmate.

In her senior year at Connecticut, she also met Joseph (Joe) Hartley, who was attending Yale University, and the two fell in love. They attended the Broadway production of "South Pacific" the night they were engaged, and in 1950 they were married from Emmy's home in West Hartford.

While Joe attended Harvard Law School, the couple lived in Cambridge, Mass., and Emmy worked as a social worker. Upon his graduation, they moved to Philadelphia, where Joe eventually worked for the Philadelphia Life Insurance Company, becoming Legal Vice President.

They raised four children in the Philadelphia area: Sue, Joe (Sean), Bill and David. Once the children were grown, Emmy returned to the workforce as a library and reading assistant for the Radnor School district.

In later years, Emmy and Joe traveled to Ireland, China, Spain, Italy and extensively in the British Isles. They frequently spent part of their summers in Weekapaug, Rhode Island or Avalon, New Jersey. They were a fun-loving and generous couple who knew how to enjoy life.

In 1998, Emmy and Joe moved to Waverly Heights in Gladwyne, PA. Joe died the following year, but Emmy became a beloved fixture at Waverly, holding several volunteer positions with the Center's library and entertainment committees. She also became a member of St. Christopher's Presbyterian Church in Gladwyne, and for many years was a member of the church's altar guild.

Emmy was a gracious, funny, curious, thoughtful, passionate and loving woman; a dearly beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. She was devoted to her grandchildren (Katie Hartley, Emma Hartley and Ian Hartley) and to her great-grandson Karson Minot.

She is predeceased by her husband, her daughter, Sue Hartley and her niece Melinda Walsh, but is survived by three children, Sean Hartley, Bill Hartley and David Hartley, and their spouses Mimi Hartley and Laura Reilly, as well as three nieces: Anne Conry, Barbie Shaw and Carol Smith.

Those who wish to honor her memory may make contributions to St. Christopher's Church, the Radnor Library, Planned Parenthood, the Weekapaug Chapel, or just toast in her memory and smile at cocktail hour.