Title	Mrs.
Last Name	Hartford
First Name	Tressa
Middle Name	E
Maiden Name	Rockwell
Nick Name
Place of Birth	Exeter, ME
Date of Birth	1926-04-10
Place of Death	Windsor, CI
Date of Death	2018-04-16
Publication	Eastern Gazette 4/27-5/3, 2018
Obituary	Tressa E. Hartford, widow of Leo D. Hartford, died April 16, 2018 at home in Windsor, CI with her daughter and her dear friend, Sandra Maragrano, by her side. She was born April 10, 1926 in Exeter, Maine, daughter of John and Margaret Rockwell. She lived in Exeter until 1946 when she married Leo and moved to Dexter, Maine. In 1954, they moved with their children to CT living in New Haven, Enfield and then Windsor, where Tressa resided for the last 50 of her 92 years. After graduating from Corinna Union Academy in Maine in 1945, Tressa went to NYC to be trained to care for children in a childrens hospital. She discovered, as much as she loved children, she couldnt bear their suffering. She returned to Maine to study hairdressing and cosmetology, later opening a salon in the home her husband built in Dexter. While in Enfield, she worked at Bradlees Dept. Store for six years. After moving to Windsor, Tressa was employed by the Travelers in Hartford from 1967 until retiring in 1988. Tressa was predeceased by her husband; her father and step-mother, Laura Bubar; her mother, Margaret Webber, and step-father John Webber; and her brother, Benjamin Rockwell. She is survived by her daughter, Bonnie Karkowski and husband Laurence of Windsor; her son, Douglas Hartford and wife Karen of Anchorage, AK her sister, Virginia Dorman of Exeter, ME; her three grandchildren and their spouses: Amy Goldberg and Benjamin of Williamsburg, VA; Kayla Ratz and Ian of Colorado Springs, CO; Jonathan Hartford and Elena of Anchorage, AK; her four great-grandchildren: Alexander and Richard Goldberg of Williamsburg; Elena and Espen Ratz of Colorado Springs; her "honorary" granddaughter, Rachel Maragnano of Windsor; and many nieces and nephews. Tressa loved many things: decorating for holidays, especially Christmas with her Snowbaby and Santa collections; waiting with all her neighbors on her porch for children to arrive Halloween evenings; shopping for gifts and especially giving them; tending and enjoying her flowering plants during the warm months; collecting Snowbabies, miniature ceramic shoes, wooden ducks, butterfly items, and anything resembling a frog, provided it wasnt alive! Most of all she loved people, her family, her friends and their families, as well as people she met of all backgrounds and ethnicities. The last year of her life, her love yielded many new friends. In July she began asking everyone who helped her in any way to sign a large world map marking their place of birth. She gathered l05 signatures from all over the world on five continents. Her parting words to all were always, "Love you." These words will echo as a remembrance of her whenever heard by those who loved her. Tressas family wishes to thank her many friends of hers and ours who have done so much for all of us during her illness and following her passing. As was her wish, there will be no visitations or service. Burial will take place in Exeter Center Cemetery in Exeter, Maine, at the time of her sisters passing. In Tressas memory, please be as generous with acts of kindness and love for others as she was, for love is to be given away, not kept within. To send notes of condolences, please visit www.carmonfuneralhome. com.