Frances C. Hartgen

Frances Caroline (Lubanda) Hartgen, a Reading native, longtime Orono, Maine, resident and widow of professor and Maine artist Vincent Hartgen, died Saturday, Nov. 11, 2006, in Orono. She was 93.

In April of this year, at age 92, she published a memoir of her childhood in Reading, her years in Orono and at the University of Maine, where she served as Fogler Library’s first director of special collections and later as director of public services. The memoir, “A Maine Passage,” quickly sold to her many friends and people who remember both her and Vincent, whose paintings grace many homes, businesses and art collections across the state.

Frances was born on Oct. 4, 1913, in Reading, the only daughter of Frank and Caroline “Carrie” (Kelchner) Lubanda. In her memoir, Frances writes of how as a high school student her interest in literature was awakened by her teachers at Reading High School and her father.

Following graduation from Reading High in 1932, she worked her way through Syracuse University, graduating in 1937 with a degree in English and education. She then taught school at Washingtonville, N.Y. She and Vincent were married on July 6, 1940, while he finished graduate studies in fine arts at the University of Pennsylvania. During World War II, they lived in Baltimore, where Frances worked in a bookshop, which further expanded her love of literature and language. Their twin sons, David and Stephen, where born in Baltimore in 1944.

The couple moved to Orono in 1946 after completion of Vincent’s military service. Frances was a junior high English teacher in Old Town and Orono schools from 1952 to 1967. Many students wrote over the years that she first introduced them to great literature and taught them how to read it.

In 1967, she returned to course work at the University of Maine, completing graduate work in library science. She accepted a position at Fogler Library, University of Maine, where she was the library’s first special collections director and then director of public services, retiring in 1982. While at Fogler Library, she expanded the library’s special collection holdings of Maine people, collecting such seemingly common materials as love letters of Maine couples. “People will always want to know about love,” she would say, encouraging people to go to the library and read the letters, many of which were sealed until the future.

Reflecting on a lifelong love of books and learning, she built an extensive personal collection of the works of D.H. Lawrence during her retirement, which numbered more than 1,000 items when she gave the collection to Fogler Library in 2004.

Frances and Vincent were founding members of the Bangor (Maine) Patrons of the Arts. Vincent was a well-known Maine artist and university museum director whose works are included in many private and public collections, including the Reading Public Library. He also was a native of Reading and a graduate of Reading High School, class of 1932. He passed away in 2002.

After Vincent’s passing, Frances began work on a memoir of her life. A book signing event for its publication attracted nearly 200 people on April 28, 2006.

Frances Hartgen was widely known for her positive, cheery attitude and optimism. While she was the mother of two sons, she also was a mentor and friend to many young women. Her encouragement and support enabled many women to achieve their dreams and become vital to the community. She will be missed and remembered dearly by all who knew her.

Frances is survived by her twin sons and their spouses: David Thomas Hartgen, (Linda) of Concord, N.C.; and Stephen Anthony Hartgen, (Linda) of Twin Falls, Idaho, and their children: Alice LaBarge, Albany, N.Y.; Tiffany Paisley, Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Rachel Frances Hartgen, Boise, Idaho.

Other survivors include several stepgrandchildren: Frank Simpson, Chapel Hill, N.C.; Liesl Ganes, Wake Forest, N.C.; Todd L. Wright, Parker, Colo.; Tara Wright Beck and Trenton T. Wright, both of Boise, Idaho; her brother, George Lubanda, Orono and formerly of Reading; and numerous nieces and nephews of Naugatuck, Conn.

She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents and three brothers: Frank Lubanda, Naugatuck, Conn., and Nelson and James Rau, Reading.

As her memoir shows, Frances was a dreamer and a doer all of her life. She loved the worlds of art and literature and the community of the University of Maine, to which she and Vincent were devoted for so many years. She raised her sons with love and affection and was known to her many friends as a compassionate woman of empathy and support for those around her. She helped many people in innumerable quiet ways and leaves Maine and Orono a better place for those efforts.

A memorial service celebrating Frances’ life was held Nov. 17 in St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Orono. Inurnment was private at Riverside Cemetery, Orono. Donations may be made to the Special Collections Department, Fogler Library, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04473, or the Hartgen Teaching Collections, Department of Art, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04473. Copies of her memoir, “A Maine Passage,” are available at the Reading Public Library or from the UMO Bookstore or Borders bookstore, or from her sons at dthartge@email.uncc.edu or Stephen_Hartgen@hotmail.com.