SHARON — Maynard Cleveland Bartram Jr., 94, of Seabury in Bloomfield, Conn., passed away peacefully on Jan. 15, 2021.
He was born Aug. 9, 1926, in Sharon, the son of Nina (Juckett) and Maynard Bartram.
He attended Indian Mountain School (Class of 1941) and was a member of the Class of 1945 at Hotchkiss, graduating early, in 1944, to enlist in the Navy during World War II.
He served in the Pacific Theater as Seaman 1st Class QM on LCI 343. He was in Leyte Gulf readying for the invasion of Japan when the war ended.
He attended Yale University on the GI Bill, graduating in 1950 with a B.S. in Economics. Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program, 1978−79. After Yale, he joined Connecticut General (now CIGNA) in national real estate investment. He was President, Connecticut General Mortgage and Realty Investments, and President, CONGEN Realty Advisory Company.
After selling the REIT to Prudential, he was principal at Bartram & Company real estate investment advisors, later Bartram & Cochran. He was President, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), 1972−73.
He served as Chairman, Yale’s Real Estate Investment Committee from 1979−1983, and on Yale’s Development Committee from 1978−1982. For more than 50 years, he served as President, Chairman, Director and Co-Founder of nonprofit Church Homes, Inc., a pioneer in senior life care communities in Connecticut, including Avery Heights and Noble Horizons.
He was a founder, director and president of Interfaith Homes in Bloomfield.
He was a member of the Bloomfield Congregational Church for over 60 years, where he served as President, Board of Trustees; Treasurer; and on the Finance Committee; and enjoyed singing in the choir.
He was elected to the Bloomfield Board of Education, and served as Vice Chairman from 1967−71, helping to further integration in the schools.
He was married to Jeannette Gardner Norton (“Jay”) for 60 happy years until her death in 2013.
An avid sportsman and outdoorsman, he and Jay traveled the world, and especially enjoyed hiking in the Alps and White Mountains and summers on Seneca Lake.
He is survived by his sister, Barbara Bartram; his children Carey Meltzer and her husband, Harland, Peter Bartram, Sarah Noyes and her husband, Jon, and Amy Bartram; his grandchildren, Amory and her husband, Jarra, and Nathaniel Meltzer and Jacob and Abigail Noyes; his great-grandson Jesse Meltzer; and extended family.
Private burial will be in Hillside Cemetery in Sharon.
Memorial gifts may be made to the First Congregational Church, 10 Wintonbury Ave., Bloomfield, CT, 06002; and the Appalachian Mountain Club, 10 City Square, Suite 2, Boston, MA 02129.
