Mary Hartman

Dec 28, 1934 -

Sep 16, 2020

Dee Dee Hartman slipped peacefully away on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, after a long battle with Alzheimer's and a recent fall.

Dee Dee was born to Charles and Norine Casey in Los Angeles, Calif., and attended Catholic schools in L.A. and Hollywood. In the late 1940s, she moved with her family to Ojai, Calif., where she and her sister became boarding students at the Ojai Valley School, one of the highlights of her life.

After boarding school, and one year at Ventura Junior College, her academic career was cut short when well-intentioned friends arranged a meeting with an admirer, Don Hartman, in March 1954. The two were married in July.

Eldest son David was born in 1956, after which the young family moved to North Long Beach, Calif. Don, beginning a career with Texaco, learned of an office opening in Anchorage, Alaska, and relocated the family in 1962. Dee Dee immediately embraced life in Alaska, and made many close and lifelong friends.

Second son Daniel was born in 1962, and Douglas in 1964. Dee Dee endured the great Alaska earthquake while seven months pregnant! She was a phenomenal mom, housekeeper and financial manager while Don had to be away for days and weeks in his early career.

In 1967, she saw an ad for singers in the new Cheechako Chapter of Sweet Adelines and thought, "why not"? She promptly fell in love with choral and quartet singing. Her chorus and super entertaining quartet, the Four Below, became the driving force in her life for the next 50 years.

In addition to being an accomplished lead, baritone and bass with her championship chorus and very popular quartet, Dee Dee was also a serious and dedicated artist, winning multiple awards while specializing in pen and pencil portraits.

If you remember Dee Dee, you know she brightened any room she entered. By 2017, at the same time she received her 50-year membership in Sweet Adelines, dementia was starting to lay waste to her life. Dee Dee's boundless love and humor nourished her family and friends all her life. We treasure her memory. Rest in peace.

Dee Dee is survived by her husband of 66 years, Don Hartman of Anchorage; brother, Michael Casey of Miami, Fla.; three sons and their wives, David (Sun Bok) of Anchorage, Daniel (Cherry) of Anchorage, Douglas (Sandra) of Mount Vernon, Ind.; special ex-daughter-in-law, Rose Hoppe of Missoula, Mont.; grandchildren, Kristina, Mary, Michael, Tony, Sarah, Blaise, Maysa and Whitaker; great-grandchildren, Makayla, Karlee, Hayden and Jaxson; most special BFF, Joan Carroll of Ojai; and countless sisters in harmony throughout Sweet Adelines, International.

No services are planned at this time.