Bard R. Hamlen

Dr. Bard Rogers Hamlen, 78, a long time summer resident in Jaffrey, passed away unexpectedly on August 14, 2016 in Boston. Married for 57 years to her beloved husband Richard, she lived a long and full life, as an educator, artist, community activist, mother and wife.

Born on October 31, 1938, the daughter of Muriel Gordon and Bard Pendleton Rogers, Bard grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and attended the Dalton School. She later attended Radcliffe College, where she met Richard while working a theatrical production of the Pirates of Penzance. While spending winters in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, Bard loved the outdoors and spent her summers and weekends in Wainscott, Long Island and in Jaffrey. She was an active member in the Episcopal Church, and she and Richard have attended services at All Saints Church in Peterborough since they were married.

An educator by nature, she dedicated her professional life to teaching teachers, and to improving opportunities for minority students and adult learners. In the 1970's and 80's, she was actively involved in the local implementation of the federal court order to desegregate Boston's school system. She was appointed as the coordinator of the court-ordered collaboration between Jamaica Plain High School and Simmons College, where she was an Assistant Professor. She later founded and directed the Fenway Retention Consortium, dedicated to improving retention of minority students in higher education. She earned a Doctorate in Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, while working full time and raising three children. In later years, she focused on improving access to higher education for adults without a college degree. She served as Dean of the Adult Baccalaureate College and Associate Dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies, at Lesley College, where she taught for 25 years. She highly valued the inclusion of the arts in education, and trained teachers around the country in Lesley's Creative Arts and Learning Program. After her retirement, she continued to be an advocate for increased access to education for under-served communities as a member of the board of Urban College in Boston.

Outside of work, she enjoyed gardening, reading, and travel. Her homemade jams, made fresh every summer from strawberries, blueberries and other fruit, were beloved by
many.

A talented artist, she painted beautiful landscapes in oil and watercolors, often painting the sea and woodlands vistas near her summer homes in Wainscott, Long Island and Jaffrey. She was a member of the Jaffrey Civic Center, and her art was exhibited there, as well as in the Boston area. She was concerned with the preservation of open spaces, and she arranged, with her husband and his siblings Charles, Ann and Katharine, an easement of 55 acres of family land on the side of Mt. Monadnock, donating the land to the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.

Bard passed away as the result of complications from a heart attack. The family is grateful to the doctors and nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital for the care they gave her in her last hours. She is survived by her husband, Richard, her daughters Sara of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, and Polly of Medford, Massachusetts, and her son Peter and his wife, Rachel Schwartz, of London, England. She was predeceased by her parents and her brother Richard.

A funeral service honoring her life will be held on Saturday, August 20, at 11:00 am at All Saints Episcopal Church in Peterborough.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Society for the Preservation of NH Forests or to Urban College, in Boston Massachusetts. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ledgertranscript/obituary.aspx?n=bard-rogers-hamlen&pid=181102847#sthash.aonx7kBZ.dpuf