Robin Wayne Hartford

AMESBURY, Mass. – Robin Wayne Hartford, of Amesbury, Mass., passed away peacefully at home on May 14, 2021 following a courageous battle with brain cancer (glioblastoma).

The son of the late Wayne E. Hartford and the late Jocelyn (Robbins) Hartford, Robin was born, June 25, 1953, in Rumford, Maine, and raised in Springvale, Maine, graduating from Sanford High School in 1972.

A Vietnam-Era veteran, Robin served in the U.S. Navy from 1972-’76, the last three years aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-60) processing reconnaissance film in the intelligence center.

Discharged as a Photographers Mate Third Class, Robin earned the Navy Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, and a USS Saratoga (CV-60) Commanding Officer Commendation for outstanding performance as an intelligence center photographer.

After military service, Robin, using the G.I. Bill, entered the University of Maine at Orono, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1981.

Robin worked for a Maine newspaper and the Sanford school department before joining two national motorsport magazines, Open Wheel, and Stock Car Racing, in 1985. Fifteen years later, Robin took a position with MITRE Corporation, a federally funded research and development company, where he worked for nine years.

A lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans, Robin was also a member of the American Legion – Thomas Cole Post #19, American Mensa, Naval Intelligence Professionals, UMaine Alumni Association, and the U.S.S. Saratoga Association.

Robin was predeceased by his mother, Jocelyn (Robbins) Hartford, in 1997 and his father, Wayne E. Hartford, in 2019.

Robin is survived by his wife, Cynthia M. Sullivan, and Chloe the Cat of Amesbury; brother, Brion J. Hartford and his wife Jocelyn of Sanford; and three nephews, Mathew Hartford and his wife, Alicia, and their daughters, Ella and Sable, Adam Hartford, and his wife, Casey, and their sons, Griffin and Tucker and Nathan Sevigny, and his wife, Amy, and their sons, Jack and “CJ”, and daughters, Sadie, Paige, and Sophie, all of Springvale; and several cousins. Also, sisters-in-law Jacqueline Pardini and her husband Vincent of Newton, N.H., and Wendy Sullivan and her husband Danny Weisenmiller of Salisbury, Mass.

A Celebration of Life will be scheduled at a later date.

Arrangements are by Paul C. Rogers Family Funeral Home, 2 Hillside Avenue, Amesbury, MA.

Gifts in memory of Robin for the UMaine General Scholarship Fund can be made payable to:

University of Maine Foundation

Two Alumni Place

Orono, ME 04469-5792 or at umainefoundation.org/memorial


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