Richard Bartley of Damariscotta died on May 29, 2023, at the age of 82. He was born in Amesbury, Mass., the son of the late Mary A. (Shaughnessy) and Louis J. Bartley. Richard leaves his wife, Sally; children, Rick, Stephanie, and Lucy; grandchildren, Patrick, Nathaniel, Margaret, Wyatt, and Sarah; siblings, Mary Louise, Margaret (Peggy) Roche, and Paul; and many nieces and nephews. His brothers, Daniel, Reverend David, and James predeceased him.
Especially as he got older, Richard would often remark that he couldn’t think of anyone who’d had more fun in life than he did. Whether it was as a machinist, a sailor, a bank director, a construction foreman, a firefighter, or an amateur pyrotechnician, there was very little he thought he couldn’t do. Somehow, he was usually right.
He left Boston College to work at Bartley Machine & Mfg. Co., his family’s machine shop, and eventually bought and grew it to over 200 employees. In 1984, he decided “the shop” needed a new building, so he built one with a ragtag crew of friends and family. Because people “had to spend a third of their lives at work,” he strove to provide good pay, good work, and, most of all, the chance to have fun. Anyone who attended a Bartley Machine Christmas Party came away with a full understanding of the philosophy.
Richard loved Maine, whether it was on Bremen Long Island with family; on the coast in the Viking O, a 1937 wooden sailboat that he bought and sold three times until he was certain he’d left her with the right person; or in Damariscotta, where he and Sally eventually settled.
Richard had a unique appreciation for people. He cared for everyone around him, and he loved his family immensely. He was, above all else, a deeply good person. He will be missed but leaves behind the rare certainty that he enjoyed life about as much as someone could. He was a hot sh@t.
Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home at 612 Main St., Damariscotta, ME 04543. Condolences, and messages for his family, may be expressed by visiting stronghancock.com.
