Mary Ellen (Sliney) Hart

Mary Ellen Hart, Caregiver 

Mary Ellen (Sliney) Hart, of Maynard, formerly of Clinton and Belmont, died Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Care Dimensions Hospice Residence in Lincoln. She was 84. 

Our Mom passed away peacefully in the late afternoon. It was a beautiful sunny day. Surrounded by family who adored her she was lucid, smiling, talking, looking at pictures, and sharing "goodbyes" in the hours before she slipped away. The staff at Care Dimensions Hospice House in Lincoln was amazing. 

Our Mother began charting the course of an "empowered Woman who can have it all" long before that concept became a more popular rallying cry in our culture. Earning her Nursing Degree at St Elizabeth's Hospital in the late 1950's she started her career. After marrying the love of her life, our dad Jim, she walked away from Nursing and began making our home. She brought Michael, Kathy, Stephen, Kevin, and Sarah into the world and raised us with old school discipline wrapped in the warmest hug you could ever imagine. She then returned to her Nursing career, leading a team of Earth Angels in the "End of Life" space at St. John of God Hospital in Brighton. Close to where she'd begun her schooling all those years earlier.

Five kids in a house is an absolute zoo. When we were very little Mom famously stretched a garden hose across where the end of the driveway met the sidewalk and said, "That's the line". So....there was a line. This stayed with us all our lives and we knew there were lines you shouldn’t cross. There was also a bottomless well of unconditional love, compassion, encouragement, and... food... LOTS of delicious food and homemade goodies.

One might assume that our mother followed the time honored tradition of carrying the environment she grew up around home to us. This was not the case. Mom's upbringing was not a "Peace in the valley" framework. Far from it. So the arc of her story is truly that of "The Comeback Kid". A turn-around expert. 

This spirit carried on through life under a stage 4 cancer diagnosis for over two years. Consistent rallying. The Comeback Kid.  

So... in the end, "Caregiver" wasn't just the nursing career that bookended Mary Ellen's Motherhood. And it wasn't just her safety, strength, deep love, and "be who you are" approach to homemaking....

"Caregiver" ended up being our mother’s all-encompassing lifelong mission. Full measure.

Mission accomplished. Time to rest.  

Mary Ellen was born May 28, 1939, in Belmont a daughter of the late Thomas F. and Hazel I. (Kelley) Sliney. Raised in Belmont she was a graduate of Belmont High School with the class of 1957 and later earned her nurse’s degree from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital School of Nursing. She married James Gerard Hart of Belmont on April 8, 1961. Longtime residents of Waltham in the Waverly Square, Francis’ Food Market, Dean Dairy triangle, they later moved to Clinton where they lived for over ten years and moved to Maynard in 2022. 

In addition to her husband of 63 years, Jim, she leaves her children, Michael J. Hart of Clinton, Kathleen Hart Young (Edward) of Springboro, Ohio, Stephen T. Hart (Julie) of Quincy, Kevin E. Hart (Amy) of Maynard and Sarah A. Lynch (Andrew) of Sudbury; her grandchildren, Noah, Jake, Lily, Thomas, John, Jane, Jason, Julia, Ava and Aiden; her siblings, Thomas Sliney (late Nancy) of Waltham, Richard Sliney (Maureen) of Yarmouth and the late Paul and Ronald (Rose) Sliney; also survived by many nieces & nephews. 

Family and friends will honor and remember Mary Ellen’s life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham, on Tuesday, May 28^th from 4 to 7 p.m. Her funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 29 at 10 a.m. at The Church of Saint Luke, 130 Lexington Street, Belmont, MA. Burial in Belmont Cemetery will be private at a later date.

Memorial donations may be made in her honor to Care Dimensions, 75 Sylvan Street, Suite B-102, Danvers, MA 01923 or online at https://www.caredimensions.org/