Opal Bartlett was a child of the Great Depression. The hard life of the Depression years formed and shaped her life. She was courteous, inquisitive and frugal. She was one of eight children of John and Jessie Day. As a child she spent a lot of time helping out around the house and tending to her older brothers’ needs.
Opal went to Jordan High School and worked at Woolworth’s Downtown. She met Bill Bartlett at the bowling alley in Columbus. They were married in Santa Rosa Beach, California before he was shipped overseas as a P-38 pilot in the China arena at the start of the Second World War.
After the war they lived in Atlanta while Bill studied architecture at Georgia Tech. When their first child, Sandy, was born they moved back to Columbus where Bill began working for his father, James William Bartlett, at the Columbus Fixture Manufacturing Company. The family lived first in the Rigdon Road area and later moved to the Weracoba District. There were three children, Sandy, Chuck and Bo. Once all of the children were in school, Opal went back to work. She began her career filing in the medical records department at the Columbus Medical Center in the early 1960’s.
Opal impressed the Medical Center doctors and staff, and soon she was promoted and became the Head Medical Librarian of the Simon Schwob Medical Library. She spent her entire career there until her retirement in the late 1990’s. Bartlett brought many advancements to the Schwob Library including being the first library to have files digitized and stored on computers in the state of Georgia. Her portrait, painted by her son, Bo Bartlett, now hangs in the lobby of Piedmont Hospital.
Opal enjoyed making her delicious fried chicken, sweet tea and chocolate cake for big family dinners after church on Sundays, but her favorite meal was french fries and a Dr. Pepper. She loved to talk and socialize. She was always lucky, she loved playing cards and bingo and trips to the casino. She enjoyed sewing, painting ceramics, camping, swimming, dancing and later in life... painting. She painted beautiful, small, colorful still lives and landscapes. Although she came from simple beginnings, she worked hard and saved her money. She was very fastidious. She enjoyed gardening and sitting in her orderly yard at the end of the day. Opal and Bill attended First Baptist Church in Columbus. They were a vital part of their Christian community. They were devoted to family. Opal loved and cared for her husband, Bill, until his death in 2012. She moved to Spring Harbor in 2014 and was well liked among her friends and contemporaries there. She was healthy and other than a pacemaker had no medical conditions... she was on no medication. She never said a rude word about anyone, in private or in public. She was quiet, thoughtful and polite. She was a dear soul. She was a good driver; she never got a ticket and never broke any laws. She was always kind and courteous, tidy and orderly. When someone once commented that she was “perfect”, she corrected them and said, ”No, I’m not perfect... but I try to be.”
Opal Bartlett loved everything about living. She loved her sisters and her children. She was a great mother, whole-heartedly supporting her children’s creative endeavors and decisions. She had an uncanny knack for letting people be who they were, no matter who they were. When people were with her, she made them comfortable; she listened intently and appreciated what others had to say. She was curious and attentive. She loved the people in her life. She let her loved ones know in no uncertain terms that she didn’t want to die... she loved life too much. This made her tenacious and resilient to the very end. Even after a series of falls late in life.. still she worked hard at Physical Therapy in order to recover and heal. She always loved to work, to strive and improve. She received great pleasure from the simplest things in life... family and friends and common activities, cooking and hosting and serving others. She was grateful, grateful for what she had, grateful for her loved ones. Opal Bartlett loved life!
She was pre-deceased by her husband, Bill; her son, Charles Thomas Bartlett; and grandson, Thomas Eliot Bartlett; and also by six of her brothers and sisters, Floyd Day, Jack Day, Johnnie Day, Mildred Patterson, Evelyn Powers, and Shirley Lane. She is survived by one sister, Betty Register of Alabama; and two children, Sandy Bartlett Scarborough (and her husband Otis) of Pine Mountain, and Bo Bartlett (and his wife Betsy Eby) of Columbus and Maine. She had five grandchildren, including Bart Scarborough (and his wife Victoria), Grant Scarborough (and his wife Anne) both of Columbus, Will Bartlett of Bolinas California and Man Bartlett (and his wife Jodi) of New York City. She has eight great-grandchildren, Jane Scarborough, Anita Scarborough, Jesse Scarborough, Mary Piper Scarborough, Charlotte Scarborough, David Scarborough, Franklin Parrish, Henley Parrish and many nieces and nephews.
The family would like to thank Jimmy Elder, her nursing team at Spring Harbor and her Columbus Hospice team for their support... and her loving caregivers who were with her leading up to and in her final days, Deneita Moye, Betty Carden, Pearlie Thomas and Fran Ross.
In keeping with the guidelines to control the spread of COVID-19, the family will have a private graveside funeral service.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider making a donation in Opal’s name to The Bo Bartlett Center, MercyMed of Columbus or Ancient Way Farm: bobartlettcenter.org, mercymedcolumbus.com, ancientwayfarm.com.
To sign the online guest registry or to offer condolences, please visit www.shcolumbus.com.
