LUDLOW, Vt. – Jean Safe Hartnett Eggleston, age 94, died Nov. 27, 2021, at her home on Lake Rescue surrounded by her family.
Jean was born in Cohoes, N.Y., to William and Elsie Collier Safe. She graduated from Cohoes High School and the Russell Sage School of Nursing (1947). After many years of working as a registered nurse and raising a family, Jean returned to school to pursue an advanced degree in nursing in 1969. Jean attended the Albany Medical School of Anesthesia and obtained a degree as a certified nurse anesthetist. She worked at Albany Medical Center, the University of Connecticut Medical Center, and became Chief Nurse Anesthetist at Leonard Hospital in Troy, N.Y.
John Hartnett and Jean Safe were married shortly after Jean graduated from Russell Sage College and they eventually settled in Colonie, N.Y. This marriage ended in divorce in 1970. In 1972, she married Warren Eggleston and moved to Rocky Hill, Conn. After Warren’s death, Jean decided she wanted to move to a new home where she could be on a lake and live under pine trees. Her search eventually led to Lake Rescue in Ludlow, Vt.
She is survived by her son Thomas Hartnett and his husband Paul Reid, Richard Hartnett and his wife Madeline, Kathleen Hartnett and her partner Kaylon Griffith, grandsons Daniel Hartnett and Matthew Hartnett and his wife Heather, great-grandson Elias Hartnett, sister Joan Caldarella, and niece Elizabeth Kelly.
Jean had an amazing amount of energy and spirit and it led to a full life. She worked most of her life and at the same time raised a family, returned to graduate school, and was active in community affairs and devoted to her church. While her children were growing up, summers were spent camping in the Adirondacks, Maine, and Cape Cod. She was always happiest to be outside doing some activity such as hiking, swimming, or some new sport she had discovered. When winter arrived, the activities shifted to mountains for skiing, snowshoeing, and skating. She was still skiing Okemo Mountain in her 70s. While married to Warren Eggleston in Connecticut, she and Warren owned a sailboat on Long Island Sound, and they loved to explore the beaches and towns in the region. Winters were spent in Sarasota, Fla., sailing and on the beaches. Jean was an accomplished cook and nothing made her happier than having family and friends in for a dinner or celebration. As a widow living in Vermont, Jean devoted most of her time to community affairs, church, traveling, family, her house on Lake Rescue, and her dogs. She used to remark that she could not believe how happy and lucky she had been to spend the last 30 years of her life in Vermont.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the United Church of Ludlow, 48 Pleasant St., Ludlow, VT 05149 or the Black River Good Neighbor, 105 Main Street, Ludlow, VT, 05149.