In 1990, when retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Gail Hartjen learned about the Hampton Roads Good Samaritan Foundation, which helped place homeless people in homes, she decided to help. She called Marie Boyd, a chaplain with the Newport News Fire Department, who ran the foundation, and asked her how she could assist. It was the start of a 35-year friendship. On July 9, 2025, Boyd said a final farewell to her friend at Arlington National Cemetery.
Hartjen enlisted in the Army in 1965 and, within six months, became a drill sergeant. She also earned degrees in business administration and finance. When she became an officer, she taught finance to Army recruits.
At the funeral service, Boyd recalled that, when Hartjen was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, she discovered there were no chimney sweeps at the fort. She started cleaning chimneys and eventually opened her own chimney sweep business.
A few years after retiring from the Army in 1986, Hartjen moved to Langley, Virginia, where she started buying houses through the local courthouse, fixing them up, and selling them. “She did every bit herself,” said Boyd. “If there was something she didn’t know how to do, she got on the computer or asked a friend.”
When Hartjen learned about a family living in a trailer, she told Boyd, “We can't have them living like that.” Hartjen not only bought them a home, she also “adopted” their four children. “She took them to museums, she taught them the Constitution, and to stand whenever someone older than them entered a room,” Boyd added. Today, three of the children are in college, while one is still in high school.
In 2020, Hartjen suffered a stroke. While she was bedridden, her adopted children took care of her. One day, she told Boyd that Arlington National Cemetery was the most honorable place in the world. When Boyd asked her if that meant she wanted to be buried there, she said, “Don't you put me anywhere else.”
When Hartjen suffered a second stroke, Boyd had her moved into a care facility. While there, she suffered a third. Boyd and her husband brought the adopted family to her side to say goodbye. One child promised to carry on her legacy. Another said, “Lieutenant Colonel, we got the watch.”
At Hartjen’s funeral service, Boyd wore her fireman’s uniform and brought a framed photograph of Hartjen in her chimney sweep outfit. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Philip Morlock told Hartjen’s family and friends that her ministry began with small acts of kindness and grew into a life defined by generosity, mentoring young people, supporting fellow soldiers, and “sending others to college without ever expecting anything in return,” he said. “You'll especially remember the joy she found in the family she chose and loved as her own. They were her heart.”
Boyd spent most of the service holding her husband’s hand. When Capt. Sean McEvoy presented Boyd the flag, she stood up and saluted to honor her friend. When the service ended, she said of Hartjen, “She was my greatest friend and mentor. They just didn't come better than Gail Hartjen.”
