Stephen Hartwell

Stephen Hartwell, Tau, 1936 (April 10, 1915-December 14, 2011)

Stephen Hartwell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 10, 1915.   He graduated from the Tau Chapter at Lafayette College with a B.S. in Administrative Engineering in 1936. From 1941 to 1946 he served in the Army Signal Corps arising to the rank of Major.

In 1954 he became Executive Vice President of the Steadman Funds; in 1968 he was elected Vice President of Washington Mutual Investors Fund, becoming President in 1981.  He later became Chairman of the Board of Directors, where he served until 2001, thereafter becoming Chairman Emeritus for life.   Other business activities included: Chairman of the Board of Advisors of Woodlawn National Bank, advisor to Clarendon Bank and Trust Company and its successor, First American Bank of Virginia, President of Colchester Corporation, director of numerous other companies, and partner in several real estate ventures in the Mt. Vernon area of Fairfax County. He was equally active in the Investment Industry and served on the National Association of Securities Dealers District Committee, in addition to chairing tax-exempt bond funds in Maryland and Virginia.  He was a long-time active member of the Metropolitan Club of Washington, DC.

Heavily involved in Community Service, Brother Hartwell was Chairman of the Fairfax County Planning Commission, a member of the Northern Virginia Regional  Planning and Economic Development Commission, Governor of Gunston Hall School, a member of the Board of Visitors of the College of Business Administration at The American University, a member of the Woodlawn Plantation Council of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Trustee of the American University in Washington, DC, and Trustee of the Woodlawn Foundation.    He was a Trustee of the INOVA Hospital System and Chairman of its Finance and Investment Committees. He was also Chair of the Mt. Vernon Guard, which supports Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate.

In 1998, he was appointed Chairman of the Virginia College Building Authority by Governor Jim Gilmore in 1998.

Brother Hartwell was survived by his wife, Norma Bostick Hartwell and his two children, Stephen W. Hartwell and Robert van Laer Hartwell, along with numerous grandchildren.

For Zeta Psi, Brother Hartwell served as Phi Alpha from 1999-2000, and was honored at the 2001 Washington, DC convention with the Fraternity’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award.  Also receiving the DSA that year was his friend and fellow former Phi Alpha, Rear Admiral [Ret.] James J. Carey, they are pictured together in the photo below.