Dorothy M. "Dottie" (Cutting) Bartlett

Dorothy "Dottie" May (Cutting) Bartlett, 92, of Sudbury, MA passed away peacefully on Thursday, June 13, 2019. She was the loving wife of the late John P. Bartlett.

Born and raised in Sudbury, the oldest of four children, Dottie enjoyed growing up on her father's farm. She attended school in the Flynn Building, which at that time contained grades 1 - 12. She then went on to Howard Seminary before earning a B.A. in Music from Boston University. Expecting to be a music teacher, instead, she married John Bartlett in 1948 and had three children. The first year together was spent building their own house on Boston Post Road with help from friends. Dottie and her husband resurrected his father's glass greenhouses and sold cut flowers there, as well as at Boston Flower Market. As the business expanded, she worked long hours year round and had incredible stories of Marion Stone, Paul Baldelli , Jim Hodder as well as so many others that she worked with over the years. Joking around, be it practical gags or otherwise, was the norm at work.

Dottie grew up surrounded by many family members and friends. Her stories and memories of Grammie Cutting, Grammie Meade, Uncle Able, and Uncle Walter, amongst others, were filled with laughter and fun times. Sudbury was a small town during her childhood and while most people knew everyone, her close friends Becky Fairbanks, Edna Stiles, and Gloria Bonazzoli and she had many adventures. Hiking Nobscot, swimming in White's pond, and once, she and Gloria rode their bicycles from Sudbury to Cape Cod. It was exactly 100 miles.

Not a fan of traveling, her parents and family did vacation with other relatives at Craigeville Beach in Centerville, Squam Lake in NH, and later at her father's Cutting Cottages on Block Island. In the early 1960s, her husband John bought an older farm in Maine. It was four hours away, too close to commute to work, but close enough to get back if needed. Every summer was filled with visits from family and friends, gardening, boating, playing piano and singing in the church choir. Making new friends in the small close knit community there and enjoying fairs, auctions, and local get togethers.

Music being central in most of her life, Dottie played the organ at the Memorial Congregational Church in Sudbury and sang in the choir for many years. While preferring to accompany others, she also played for many family members' weddings. At times, the local schools enlisted her help on piano for plays or concerts.

In her later years she still worked, but made more time for her children and grandchildren. Most memorable are the times spent in Maine at a smaller cottage built after the farm was sold. Always called "Camp Grammie", it afforded her more peace and quiet while alone. Her happiness was boundless when family arrived to spend time with her. Picking blueberries, baking blueberry cake, badminton, croquet, cribbage, fantan, rowing, frog fishing, sing-a-longs while playing the piano, and the never ending jigsaw puzzles she collected for those times spent just enjoying life.

Dottie is survived by her children J. Pike Bartlett Jr. of Veazie, ME; Laura B. Abrams and Martha Keighley both of Sudbury, MA; her brother, Webster Cutting Jr. of Florida; and sister Shirley Place of Sudbury, MA. Grandchildren John Bartlett of Seattle, WA; Anne Bartlett of Bath, ME; Elizabeth McCarthy and Fred McCarthy, both of Sudbury, MA; Amy McCarthy-Currier of Needham, MA; Olivia Keighley of Newton, MA, and Charles Keighley IV of Sudbury, MA. Great grandson Camden Currier of Needham, MA. Many, many, cousins, nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents and her husband, Dottie was predeceased by her sister Corinne Nichols.

Family and friends will gather to honor and remember Dottie on Saturday, June 22, 2019 from 10:00-11:00 am in the Memorial Congregational Church 26 Concord Road, Sudbury. Her funeral service will follow at 11:00 am.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Music Department of Memorial Congregational Church 26 Concord Road, Sudbury MA 01776.