Marguerite Warner Bartlett

Marguerite (Maggie) Bartlett was born on March 7, 1934, in Hood River, Oregon to Reverend John and Edna Belle (Polly) Pickells. Her gentle soul passed on January 24, 2025 after an impatient battle with cancer, under the loving care of the good folks from Broad Reach Hospice and her four children.
A minister’s daughter, she made her childhood way across the country via Steubenville, Ohio, eventually settling in Webster, Massachusetts. There, among her father’s congregation, she would come to know the family of her future husband. The Bartlett and Pickells children would grow up together in both Webster and Eastham, Massachusetts before John Pickells’ calling would land him and his family in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. 
Sadly, Maggie’s mother Edna Belle lost her own battle to cancer when she and her children were very young. However, with the support of the East Greenwich community, the Pickells family would not only carry on, but thrive in her memory.  Maggie, aka Gyppy, would grow up and attend EG High School where she was an outstanding athlete and good friend to so many, with whom she would keep in touch for the next several decades. Notably, she was a member of the OTA Club, “Open To All”, which would be a harbinger of the way she would impact communities for the rest of her life.
After high school and before she finished college, Maggie would marry her good friend, and the love of her life, George Bartlett. They were married at St. Luke’s in East Greenwich on May 14th, 1955, a union that would last 66 years, and in memory after George’s passing in 2021. Soon after, George would join the Air Force and commence training in San Antonio, Texas, where Maggie would join him and eventually the two of them would head to Japan to be a part of the Korean conflict, George as a pilot, Mag as a teacher of English to Japanese children.  At 5’10”, she must have appeared as a giant to those lucky youngsters.  She loved to tell a story about when she and George were preparing to head back to the United States and were shopping for chowder bowls for his mother Carol. Maggie couldn’t help but take the opportunity to “splurge” on buying a set of dishes for their own table, to which George, the champion of parsimony, reluctantly agreed.  When they went to pay for everything, a child behind the counter, one of Mag’s students, would tug on her mother’s robe and whisper something in her ear. The woman smiled and gifted the whole lot of dishes to them.  Those gifts are still on their kitchen shelves to this day.
Shortly after their return to the States, Maggie would give birth to their first child, Polly. This young family of three joined the boarding school life which would be George and Maggie’s combined livelihood for the next 32 years.  First, they worked and lived at The Pomfret School, in Pomfret, Connecticut, where children Peter and Caroline would be born. Then, George’s teaching career would lead them to South Kent School for the better part of three decades, where Benjamin would soon join the family and where George would eventually become Headmaster. Maggie, apart from serving as surrogate mother to countless young men and eventually young women, would take on just about every role, formal and informal that she felt would help build a sense of community.  She instinctively responded to the emotional needs of students who not only were figuring themselves out but were navigating the demands of school and life away from home.  Additionally, she was an integral part of the nearby Kent community, teaching nursery school and contributing to any and every major festivity and bazaar conceived by the residents.
But it was in “retirement” (1989) that Maggie’s strength of spirit emerged, and her natural talents were validated.  Maggie mindfully pursued her calling as a volunteer and pioneer with the Provincetown Aids Support Group.  Again, she found herself serving as a surrogate mother, this time to those afflicted by a dreaded and misunderstood disease, young men and women who would often be abandoned by family and friends.  She was surprised and honored to receive the PASG Community Service Award in 1999. At this time, she would also become a legend on the outer Cape as a sponsor and faithful Friend of Bill, further broadening her impact on her community.  Having lost her mother and two of her three siblings tragically early in their lives, and also her father, Maggie’s work with PASG naturally evolved into a commitment to all kinds of hospice care. She would learn reiki so that she could bring comfort to those in pain as they were transitioning.
It is impossible to think about Maggie without thinking about family.  Whether you were one of scores of cousins tumbling over the bluff at the house off of Ocean View Drive, or a third former eating popcorn in her living room, or one of many piled into a van heading from P-Town to Boston for treatment, or one of the “previous” club setting up for an early a.m. meeting – she fostered family. And you were particularly blessed to be one of her grandchildren.  Maggie was not one to put plastic coverings on the furniture when expecting her younger family members; rather she created wonder nooks in her cozy home, simple, inviting play spaces, indoors and out, where time would be suspended, and love would grow in great supply.  Holidays at the house were magical with all her seasonal decorations, pleasantly enhanced by the smells and tastes of delicious foods.  Her many families meant everything to her.
The words of a good friend aptly sum up Maggie’s impact on the worlds of so many over the course of her life:
“For me she embodies all the qualities I most admire: warmth, kindness, compassion, generosity, tolerance, imagination, good humor and strength. She is that rare individual who accepts people as she finds them…”
Maggie was a reluctant matriarch, predeceased by her brother John, and sisters Betsy and Sally, and her beloved George, as well as many of her best, best friends.  But her spirit lives in her many surviving friends, including her children Polly, Peter and Colleen, Caroline, Ben and Betsy, and her grandchildren (by family), Woody, Marguerite (Maizie), John and George, Ana, Phoebe and Emma.  While she will certainly be missed, no doubt Maggie’s rich legacy of compassion and care for others will live on in all who knew her.
A celebration of life will be held at a date to be announced.  In lieu of flowers, feel free to help keep her spirit alive by being kind to your neighbors.  Donations may be made to Aids Support Group of Cape Cod, P.O. Box 1522, Provincetown, MA 02657
For online condolences, please visit www.nickersonfunerals.com