12 Sunday, Oct.

13, 2013 Eastern Idaho Business Post Register

By Krysten Bullock
kbullock@postregister.com
A
fer nearly 50 years work-
ing as vice president for
the company her husband
founded, Mary Lynn Hartwell is
enjoying retirement.
Hartwells husband Ralph
founded the Hartwell Corpora-
tion in 1963. Te couple sold the
company last November.
Its been really interesting af-
ter working forever, Mary Lynn
said. When you have your own
business you work a lot of hours.
Its not just the hours you put in,
but all the responsibility you feel
and take care of.
Te Hartwell Corporation is
an independent insurance agen-
cy with ofces in Idaho Falls and
Caldwell. Te company employs
about 45 people between the two
locations and sells personal, busi-
ness, life and health insurance.
Both of ces primarily deal with
commercial insurance, while Ida-
ho Falls puts some emphasis on
construction and Caldwell focus-
es more on manufacturing and
agriculture.
As vice president, Mary Lynn
handled major commercial ac-
counts, and more recently han-
dled management issues.
When the Hartwells sold the
company they sold it back to their
employees through an employee
stock ownership plan. So its now
employee owned.
Afer spending some time
traveling, the Hartwells returned
to Idaho Falls and Mary Lynn
jumped right into community
projects.
Her frst project was the audi-
torium.
Carrie Getty Scheid and I de-
cided it was time for someone to
put a big push on (the auditorium
project) and get it over the hill,
Mary Lynn said.
Te duos experience raising $5
million to get the Colonial Te-
ater of the ground several years
ago, helped them raise the last
$450,000 for the auditorium.
Trough that process of mak-
ing something that big happen in
Idaho Falls, we got to know a lot
of people and got to know a lot
of people that cared about Idaho
Falls, Mary Lynn said of raising
money for the Colonial Teater.
When you put the right people
together and you get that synergy
of their eforts it makes wonderful
things happen.
Mary Lynn is also the
vice-chairman of the Idaho Com-
munity Foundation. Its a state-
wide foundation that gathers
funds, grows funds and grants
funds according to Mary Lynn.
Its a wonderful organization
thats really helped bring Idaho to-
gether with a common purpose,
Mary Lynn said.
Te group has 30 directors that
represent areas of Idaho. Every
year three regional grant panels
meet to review grant requests and
distribute the money the group
has raised.
Idaho Community Founda-
tion Grants go throughout the
entire state and tries to touch on
every county, Mary Lynn said.
Mary Lynn is also on the board
of directors for the Idaho Falls
Symphony and emeritus on the
Arts Council as a past-president.
All the past presidents of the
Arts Council become emeritus di-
rectors, Mary Lynn said. We con-
tinue to stay involved in the Arts.
We go to board meetings if we want
to, we just dont get to vote.
Mary Lynn is also on the Idaho
State University Advisory Council.
I think its wonderful how
ISU has tried more and more to
involve Idaho Falls business peo-
ple in whats happening, Mary
Lynn said. Especially with the
advancement of whats happening
at University Place and the expan-
sion of those programs.
Mary Lynns favorite hobby is
golfng.
Golf can be such a wonderful
experience. You can be out in the
beautiful sunshine looking at a
beautiful golf course and making
yourself crazy, Mary Lynn said.
She also enjoys gardening both
fowers and vegetables. Mary
Lynn and Ralph also love art and
purchased a lot of the artwork in
their home from local artists.
But above all, Mary Lynn en-
joys her time spent dedicated to
volunteer organizations.
Volunteerism is what really
makes your life, Mary Lynn said.
You meet so many people that
you would never meet.
Continued from page 11
Tey also sent technicians to
help install them by the bridge
at Peterson Park. Sadly, one of
the lanterns was destroyed by
vandalism. Te city of Idaho
Falls purchased a replacement
lantern, but the lanterns were
so expensive that the replace-
ment is about a third of the
size of the original.
During her presidency so
far, Torsen has worked with
her Sister Cities team and
joined together with Master
Gardeners to make the park
beautiful. Tey worked hard
for three years to transform
the area from a dirty, over-
grown disgrace to a beautiful
park that is now a common
wedding reception location.
Te current project for
the Japanese-style park is a
teahouse that will be called the
Moon Pavilion. Torsen has
done much of the fundraising
for the project and said she
hopes it will continue to be a
beautiful place for people to
visit as well as a representation
of the Idaho Falls Sister Cities.
Torsen explained that her
drive to do volunteer work
stems from her desire to give
back to her community.
Volunteer service is the
dues you pay to live in a com-
munity, said Torsen. Tere
was a time when I didnt have
much money, so I donated my
time instead. Ten later when
I didnt have much time be-
cause of my career as a REAL-
TOR, I donated money so I
could still support the causes I
believed in. Find a cause, any
cause. Pick something that
is dear to your heart and do
something about it.
Volunteerism ... makes your life
Hartwell spends retirement continuing volunteer work
Krysten Bullock/kbullock@postregister.com
Mary Lynn Hartwell sits in her living room for an interview recently.
Thorsen
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