Janice Hartwell

Janice Wiater Hartwell, 78, passed away, surrounded by love, on February 15, 2026, following a series of strokes and decades suffering from severe, systemic rheumatoid arthritis and mental illness.

Born in North Adams, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of Casimer J. Wiater and Pauline Labanowski Wiater of Cheshire, Massachusetts. Janice grew up on Depot Street in Cheshire and graduated from North Adams High School. Janice participated in Girls State, the American Legion Auxiliary, and was a member of the Blessed Virgin Sodality of St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church.

Notably, Janice was also active in 4-H (Head, Heart, Hands, and Health), earning the state 4-H Key Award for leadership, serving as a junior leader, and volunteering as a counselor at Camp Howe in Goshen. The pinnacle accomplishment of her early years was receiving a 4-H award at the national level, which included a trip to the National Convention in Chicago to showcase a stunning women’s suit she had designed, sewn, and tailored. As a female constrained by gender roles, Janice yearned to run with the boys, and loved outdoor adventuring where possible, including fishing, biking, and kite-flying, even winning herself a fishing rod in a Rod and Gun Club casting contest.

Janice attended North Adams State College, then transferred to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from UMass Amherst, where she studied mathematics and child development, while working full-time to pay for her education.

On July 25, 1970, Janice married Lieutenant Allan D. Hartwell, son of David W. and Nina Goddard Hartwell of Duxbury, Massachusetts, at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Cheshire. Following Allan being drafted into the US Army, and his service with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, the couple made their home in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

From 1970 to 1973, Janice taught Home Economics at Lebanon Junior High School, beginning what would always remain a deep level of commitment and service to the education and development of young people. Whether in the classroom or in everyday life, she brought intelligence, creativity, warmth, and wit to those around her.

With Allan, Janice shared a marriage grounded in partnership, resilience, and love. They built a life, primarily in Hooksett, NH, centered on family, gardening and the outdoors, travel, and volunteering, and were communicants of St. John's the Evangelist Catholic Church in Concord, NH. Janice would be Allan’s constant companion through his sudden brain cancer diagnosis in 2001 and many months of treatments. His premature loss in 2003 after 33 years of marriage devastated her deeply in a way that overshadowed the rest of her life, even while she would persevere through this heartbreak.

Janice took her greatest pride in her children, Douglas Hartwell (52) of VT and Kimberly Hartwell (49) of MA; her granddaughter, Bella Hartwell (18), and spoke of their many talents and accomplishments, including in engineering, science, and the arts. Janice was devoted to her family, including serving as a protective sister, advocate, then, legal guardian, to her older brother, Casimer Jr. She also loved time at her local public library, swimming in the Lakes Region of NH, sailing, cross-country skiing, and was a knowledgeable, passionate naturalist. Other favorite spaces included the vast informal and formal gardens in Prescott Park, Portsmouth, NH and Heritage Museums and Gardens, Sandwich, MA.

Fiercely independent by nature, Janice navigated her later years with characteristic resolve and resourcefulness. She found solace in her family, friends, and neighbors, in nature and the ocean on Cape Cod, and, later, within the vibrant, independent living community in Maynard, MA, where she resided.

Importantly, as Janice’s children, we bore witness to a persistent anguish Mom endured as a result of complex PTSD from unaddressed childhood trauma. As we work to alleviate the effects of family trauma in our own lives, may our mother find joy and freedom in God’s tender care. We are grateful for her enduring love.

Janice was predeceased by her parents, parents-in-law, and three brothers. In addition to her children and granddaughter, she leaves behind three sisters-in-law, one brother-in-law, three nieces and one nephew. Janice will be buried in Cheshire Cemetery in the presence of her immediate family, overlooking the hills of the Berkshires, beside her husband, brothers, and parents. A remembrance ceremony will also be held on Cape Cod at a later date.

Memorial contributions in Janice’s honor may be made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) www.NAMI.org/donate or the Rheumatology Research Foundation https://www.rheumresearch.org/donate. For online condolences, or to share a story of Janice, please visit www.LambertFuneralHome.com.