Obituary of Ruth Paine Hart

Ruth Paine Hart died peacefully at home on April 25th, 2024, surrounded by family and one week shy of her 105th birthday. She was the widow of Dr. George Gremple Hart. Mrs. Hart was born on May 3, 1919, in Kenogami (now Saguenay), Quebec, the daughter of Jennie Hayes Paine and Nathan Deane Paine. She graduated from McGill University in 1940 and was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity. After graduation she was an economist for the Sun Life Assurance Company and then for the International Labour Organization, both in Montreal. She married Dr. George Gremple Hart on June 18, 1946, at Erskine and American United Church in Montreal, Quebec. The couple immediately settled in Dr. Hart’s hometown of Lake Placid where they would raise their four wonderful girls and Mrs. Hart would become a pillar of the community, engaged in virtually every aspect of local life over the next seventy-plus years. Enjoying community activities, Mrs. Hart served as President of the Lake Placid Center for the Arts, The Garden Club of Lake Placid and the Women of St. Eustace. She was also a board member of the St. Francis Academy and Mountain Lake Public Television. During the 1980 Olympic Winter Games she headed the Dignitary Host Services division of the Protocol Department and brought her personal touch to all of the Games’ floral requirements. She was inducted into the Lake Placid Hall of Fame in 1992 and in 2018 was named Lake Placid-North Elba Distinguished Adult Volunteer of the Year Active in the planning and zoning process in Lake Placid, Mrs. Hart was a member of the first zoning and planning commission, which established one of the first land use master plans in the Adirondacks in the mid-1960s. Subsequently, she served as chairman of both the Town and Village Zoning Boards, at separate times, for a number of years. More recently, she served on the Joint North Elba-Lake Placid Planning Commission as well as on several committees that were formed to implement the community’s Comprehensive Plan. Mrs. Hart credited the early planners with decisions that have helped to preserve the character of Lake Placid: limiting the height of buildings to less than forty feet (below tree level); mandating the minimum width of lots on Lake Placid to 150 feet instead of the requested 50 feet; and restricting the East side of Mirror Lake to residential development. Politically conscious her whole life, Mrs. Hart remained keenly interested in current events on both sides of the border, staying up to watch the CBC national news every night and always keen to discuss the goings on in the world with friends and family. Mrs. Hart was an enthusiastic and accomplished gardener. Her garden on Victor Herbert Road was developed within the restored foundation of St. Eustace-by-the-Lake Episcopal Church, built in 1899. The restored garden is documented in the Archives of American Gardens, part of the Smithsonian Institution’s Horticulture Services Division. In recognition of her beautiful church garden, she was recently awarded The Annual Adirondack Architectural Heritage Preservation Award (AARCH) for community revitalization and stewardship. She was a very active member of the Essex County Adirondack Garden Club. Mrs. Hart was predeceased by her husband of 67 years, Dr. George Gremple Hart. She is survived by her four daughters, Marilyn MacIvor (Rod, and the late Drew Shouldice) of Ottawa, Nancy Beattie (John Christopher) of Lake Placid, Ruth Mary Ortloff (Chris) of Plattsburgh, and Elizabeth Barrett of Dallas. Her son, George Edward Hart, died shortly after birth. Surviving grandchildren are Dr. Elizabeth Shouldice (Jordan Clark) of Ottawa, Hart Shouldice (Sarah Fitzpatrick) of Ottawa, Sarah Galvin (Marc) of Lake Placid, Chris Ortloff (Julia Gage) of Buffalo, Jonathan Ortloff (Clayton McClesky) of Boston, Scott Pyzik (Natalie) and George Pyzik (Mary), Sarah Barrett (Dominic DeLany) and Hannah Gee (Alex) all of Dallas. She is survived by seven great-grandchildren, Norah Galvin (Lake Placid), Cody Pyzik (Dallas), Sam and Noah Clark (Ottawa), Drew and Muir Shouldice (Ottawa) and Holly Pyzik (Dallas). She was predeceased by her two brothers, Deane Hayes Paine of Kingston, Ontario, and Edward Earl Paine of Williamsburg, Virginia. As a perennial hostess, Mrs. Hart was sustained in her final years by the numerous visits, community relationships and cups of tea at her home. Her family is eternally grateful for the care and companionship provided by her team of loving and compassionate caregivers who allowed her to stay in her beloved home near her garden and birds these last years. Special thanks as well to Dr. Karen Cooper and Dr. John Decker. Calling hours are on Friday, May 3rd - which would have been Mrs. Hart’s 105th birthday - from 5-7 P.M. at M.B. Clark Funeral Home in Lake Placid. The funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 4th at St. Eustace Episcopal Church. Rev. Kenneth Hitch will officiate. Friends are asked to wear colorful clothes to reflect Mrs. Hart’s love of flowers and birds. Interment to follow at the North Elba cemetery, after which all are invited to a reception at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Please visit www.mbclarkfuneralhome.com to share a memory, upload a photograph, sign the online guest book, or leave condolences to be added to the memorial tribute book for the family to cherish. Donations in Mrs. Hart’s memory may be made to St. Eustace Episcopal Church and the Lake Placid Center for the Arts.