Douglas Bartlett

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Douglas R. Bartlett was born May 3, 1931 to Ray L. and Kathryn (Hoyt) Bartlett. He grew up on the family farm on Pines Brook, in Walton. He started elementary school at the one room Pines Brook schoolhouse and then attended Miller Avenue School and the old Walton High School. During his growing up years along with doing farm chores, he was involved with 4-H and showed cattle and pumpkins at the Delaware County Fair. In highschool he played on the undefeated football team of 1948.

After graduation he attended Cornell University and participated in the ROTC program. After graduating from Cornell, he was sent for basic Army training to Fort Sill, Oklahoma and then Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Douglas quickly earned the rank of 2nd lieutenant and served a year in Ansbach, Germany with a special nuclear rocket artillery unit. Later he worked as a salesman for Keebler Biscuit Company until getting a job teaching driver education. That began a long teaching career. He taught summer driver eduction for many years and industrial arts (shop classes) at Walton Central School for 43 years. Many students spent lunch time and study halls working on projects in Mr. Bartlett‘s room. The shop wing had a special camaraderie among the teachers.  Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Swart and Mr. Elderkin and then Mr. Russell worked as a team in their efforts to train and educate students. In 2019 Walton Central School honored Douglas’s years of service and announced a scholarship given in his name that year by a former student.  

In 1957 he met Barbara Whitbeck while she was visiting her cousin the pastor of the Pines Brook Baptist Church. She was the love of his life. They were married in 1958. After residing in an apartment on Liberty Street, they moved to a home in lower Pines Brook. In the years that followed they raised four children. In 1975 they fulfilled a dream of building a home on Chipmunk Hollow and moved in the following year. This house along with several others were summer building projects with his cousin Duane Bartlett.  

Douglas enjoyed hunting deer and turkey on his property. He and Barbara raised huge gardens and enjoyed sharing extra produce. He grafted many old varieties of apples to trees around his home and grew a number of blueberries. He loved taking his grandchildren and great-grandchildren for rides with the tractor and wagon and picking pumpkins and apples with them.

After moving to Chipmunk Hollow, he built a barn to raise some cattle and gradually equipped it with a wood shop. In that space he made very special gifts, toys and decorative items that he painted by hand showing a real talent for detail. He also crafted many vacation Bible school projects for his wife and daughters and made crafts, cabinets, benches and signs for Camp Bayouca.

He was a member of the Pines Brook Baptist Church where he served for many years as a deacon, Sunday school teacher and Sunday school superintendent. He also oversaw a bus ministry, was a trustee, played the violin, and sang in a trio with his brothers Henry and Robert. He also enjoyed the role of the “Old Timer” at VBS, playing the character of an old man who taught Biblical lessons. He strongly believed in supporting missionaries, financially and in prayer.

Douglas was very good at all kinds of skills. Over the years many friends and neighbors were blessed by his ability as an electrician. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren knew “grandpa can fix anything.” He also enjoyed telling stories, writing poems and reading. One of the poems he used to recite was “Granny Jinglejaws” in which children were cautioned to “tell the truth.”

After he retired, he and Barbara took many trips with Craig Golden’s “senior saints” group. These trips included the southwest of the U.S., France, England, the Canadian Rockies, Lancaster Amish country and several more.

Barbara was a helpmate in the truest sense of the word, often at his side while he worked on an electric problem for someone and as they toiled in the garden. Many people commented over the years that they never knew a couple who worked together so well. Over the last year she truly demonstrated the wedding vow “in sickness and in health,” caring for him to the end. On Sept. 29, 2021, he went into the presence of his Savior.       

Douglas is survived by Barbara, his wife of 63 years; four children Ellen Diem (Ron), Jonathan Bartlett (Beth), Susan Romansky (John) and Judy Kinne (Gary); seven grandchildren: Alisha Dean, Duane, Gary and Clint Kinne, Joseph Bartlett (Miah), Jordan Bartlett and Makayla Guerrero (Jessie): six 

great-grandchildren: Natalie, Conner, Damien and Addison Dean, Colt Andersen and River Bartlett. Douglas is also survived by brothers Henry (Sonja) and Robert (Sarah) Bartlett; sister Lucille Bartlett and many nieces, nephews and cousins. 

He was predeceased by baby grandson John Douglas Romansky. 

A service to celebrate Douglas’s life was held Monday, Oct. 4, at 10 a.m. at Pines Brook Baptist Church, 1444 Pines Brook Road, Walton. Burial with military honors followed at Walton Cemetery, 55 Fancher Avenue, Walton.

The Bartlett Family graciously declines flowers. Instead, make memorial donations in Douglas’s memory to the Pines Brook Baptist Church Mission Fund, 1444 Pines Brook Road, Walton, NY 13856.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Courtney Funeral Home, Walton. To leave a message for Douglas’s family, visit his online tribute at www.courtneyfh.com.