FALMOUTH — Douglas Gordon Hartley passed away on Friday, July 14, 2023 in Scarborough, Maine surrounded by family and friends.

Douglas was born in London, England, on March 25, 1934. His parents, both American citizens, came to England in 1927, where they lived near Egham, Surrey. With the advent of World War 2, his father stayed in England and joined the Coldstream Guards. Douglas, sister Libby and his mother (who was from Baltimore, Maryland), sailed to the U.S. via a U.S. Flag vessel, the Manhattan, where the family settled for the war’s duration. He attended the Gilman School.

In 1945, his father was demobilized, briefly returning to the U.S. before accompanying Douglas to England, where he went to the St. Leonard’s elementary school in Hastings, and then went onto Eton College for four years, an experience which, while not always easy, shaped his life. His father (Gordon Hartley) died of a heart attack in 1948 while on holiday in Italy, when Douglas was 14 years old. Douglas left England in 1951 to attend Harvard University, which he graduated from in 1955.

In March 1956 he married Deborah Wait of Boston. The same year he joined the Foreign Service and over the course of his 30-year career served in Washington, Copenhagen, Salzburg, Belgrade (twice), Milan, Rome, Athens, London, Salvador da Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In 1974, he and Deborah divorced and in 1979, he married Sondra Otey, of Memphis, Tennessee, and she accompanied him to Salvador and Rio.

He retired in 1986 but continued to work at the State Department in Washington with several assignments to Haiti, Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia and Naples, Italy. In 2007 he retired from his work in State and he and Sondra moved to Cushing, Maine, where they lived until Sondra’s death in 2015.

Douglas sold the Cushing house and in 2018 moved to Falmouth, a town near Portland, Maine. In the meantime, he and Ed Nef, a Harvard classmate, produced several films the last of which told the story of Charles Fletcher Hartley, Douglas’ uncle, who was killed at the battle of Cambrai, In France. The film was shown in Boston, Washington, and the Columbus Georgia film festival. Meanwhile, Douglas continued to travel to visit his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who lived in England, Brazil, and Dubai as well as the United States.

In addition to French, Douglas spoke Italian, Serbian and Portuguese in varying degrees of fluency. In 2012 he wrote his autobiography, Much Have I Travell’d. He loved all music, with an emphasis on classical and he played the piano by ear and by note and performed at various assisted living facilities in Portland and Rockland, Maine. He also volunteered at Partners for World Health, a Portland based organization which ships used medical equipment from US hospitals, all over the world.

Douglas leaves his children, Virginia Raymond, Sandra Stopford, Charlotte Hartley, Richard Hartley, and Sibby Spencer, plus ten grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, he has asked that donations be made to – ‘Partners for World Health’, and/or ‘Doctors Without Borders’.

There will be a Memorial Service for Douglas, September 29, 2023, at 2 p.m., at the St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 200 Main Street, Thomaston, ME 04861, with a reception immediately following the service.

Hall’s of Thomaston has care of the arrangements. To extend online condolences, light a candle for Douglas or to share a story or picture, please visit his Book of Memories at www.hallfuneralhomes.com