Emily Hartman

Emily L. Hartman
December 19, 1932 - April 4, 2018
Emily L. Hartman completed her journey on earth on April 4, 2018. She was a Benedictine Oblate affiliated with the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago.
Em was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Walter and Emily Obrecht Hartman, attended local public schools, and graduated from the University of Kansas earning a Ph.D. in Botany. She also earned a Master's degree in Library Science and spent several years delivering books to residents of Appalachia in Tennessee.
For 37 years she served as a professor of botany at universities in Kansas and California and completed her professional career in 1993 after 27 years of teaching at the University of Colorado-Denver. Her research area was the flora of the alpine tundra of the Colorado Rockies where she was always accompanied by a furry companion, the last of which and most beloved was Annie, and often by the numerous students whose careers she nurtured.
For nearly ten years Em led Elderhostels at St. Scholastica Academy in Canon City and later taught Elderhostels at Shadowcliff in Grand Lake, Colorado. Upon retiring to Grand Junction she served for 18 years as a volunteer at the Catholic Outreach Day Center where the gifts she had received she so generously shared or gave to others.
In addition to her parents, Emily was preceded in death by her brother, John Walter Hartman, and sister, Wilma Lieb. She is survived by her nephews, Randy (Escondido, CA); Karl (Coeur d'Alene, ID); Matthew (Granite Falls, WA), and Clay (Denver, CO), as well as their spouses and numerous great and great-great nieces and nephews.
A celebration of Em's life will be held Saturday, April 21st at 11:00 a.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 790 26 ½ Road, Grand Junction, CO, with Fr. Jim Plough officiating. Interment will be private.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Grand Valley Catholic Outreach Day Center.