Thalia A. Cartwright

Thalia Anne (Scott) van Colen Cartwright, loving wife of Bruce Cartwright, passed away peacefully Saturday, January 29, 2022 at St. Luke’s Hospital surrounded by her loving family, after an extraordinary life.

Born in Dartmouth, daughter of the late Palmer and Anne (Belknap) Scott, was predeceased by her first husband, Jakob P. van Colen. Thalia grew up in Dartmouth, she was a graduate of Friends Academy, Winsor High School, and attended Bryn Mawr College. After college, she moved to New York City, New Jersey and then Holland. Upon the death of Jakob, she moved back to Dartmouth where she married her current husband, Bruce Cartwright.

She was known as Tolly, Anne, Mrs. C. and Mom to her friends and family. She was a strong independent woman and well ahead of her time. She was a talented and outstanding graphic artist. She enjoyed needlepoint, doing the New York Times crossword puzzle, playing the organ, and playing Bridge with Bruce and friends. She was a voracious reader, and later in life became a zealous poker player.

Thalia and Bruce enjoyed their adventures together; traveling to Europe, playing bridge and poker, and sharing each other’s interests. There was no project the two of them would not tackle from building computers to repairing and rebuilding boats.

Thalia knew how to love and make everyone comfortable. When entertaining she made you feel like you were the only one in the room. She was compassionate, caring, intuitive and had great insight. Her love for Bruce, her sons and grandchild had no limit and was truly unconditional.

Thalia was the consummate Master of Ceremonies. She loved public speaking and enjoyed captivating audiences with her wit and humor. Everything reminded her of a story. She could tell the most amazing tales from her life and the lives of people she had met. She owned every room she ever walked into, and was often the life of the party. She enjoyed a good dirty martini (with lots of olives!).

Thalia had many occupations and vocations. Just to name a few: She was once a courier for the State Department, a props manager for the Steve Allen Show, an Editor for Yachting Magazine, and Editor for Harper and Row. After a short stint in Holland she returned to this country and worked at Friends Academy as an administrator, teacher and drama director. From there she expanded her talents as a Headhunter for Career Associates and retired as a graphics designer at Pinecomp. She was a lifelong Graphic Artist and self-proclaimed authority on the British Royal family. She loved all animals big and small and always surrounded herself with dogs and cats and cared for all the little critters invited or not. In the 1980s Thalia was President of the New Bedford Zoological Society.

Starting at a young age, she was an avid sailor. As a teenager, she was often the only female skipper in major sailing regattas throughout New England. Her love for all things sailing stayed with her for her entire life. She loved the New Bedford Yacht Club where, in the mid 1980s, she was the only woman on the Executive Committee leading the way for other women to follow. She was a co-founder of the Buzzards Bay Regatta, having run it in the late 1970s. For about three decades she was part of the Biddle, van Colen, Cartwright Race Committee (the Dream Team) having run most of the on the water sailing events for the New Bedford Yacht Club and taking it on the road from Hyannis to Vermont.

In addition to Bruce, she is survived by her children, J. Philip van Colen, Jr., Peter van Colen and wife Dr. Stephanie van Colen, grandchild Andon; and Kenneth D. van Colen and his partner Paula Walsh Kuphal, all of Dartmouth; step-son Emile Cohen and his wife Diane of New Jersey; step-daughter Sanica Cohen of Florida and many nephews and nieces.

Thalia has now weighed anchor, and smooth sailing to that port of refuge is the prayer of those of us left ashore. Red Right Returning, Mom.

In lieu of flowers, help support her love of sailing with contributions to any program that supports jr. sailing.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the New Bedford Yacht Club, 208 Elm Street, S. Dartmouth, MA. 02748 on February 26 at 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Arrangements are in the care of the WARING-SULLIVAN HOME at DARTMOUTH, 230 Russells Mills Rd., Dartmouth, MA 02748. To leave a note of condolence visit: www.waring-sullivan.com