Paul M. Hartrey

Lifelong competitive athlete Paul Marshall Hartrey, 79, died July 4, 2026 at his Westerly, Rhode Island home comforted by his wife of nearly 38 years Mary A. C. Fallon. Paul, who survived traumatic brain injuries from major bicycling accidents in 2009 and 2022, died from Parkinson’s Disease and Lewy Body dementia. Gifted with power, speed, and a compelling sense of humor, Paul started playing team sports at six years old. He consistently made headlines during his academic years – for playing football and baseball St. Bernard’s High School of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and running track and field for the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1966, Paul and three teammates set the record of 42.7 seconds in the 4x110 relay race on the hilly campus – unbroken for more than a half-century. Nearly all his life, Paul also was an intense runner, tennis player, golfer, and skier zigzagging down black-diamond mountain runs throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Paul switched from competitive running to bicycle racing in the mid-eighties when he moved to Silicon Valley as the first personal computers were being introduced. He was a member of the U.S. Cycling Federation, participated in the Alto Velo Bicycle Racing Team, was a Northern California District Criterium Champion, and co-founded the Monte Vista Velo (MVV) bicycling club. He was particularly proud of assisting MVV friend and winemaker Greg Tucker in creating delicious Tucker Cellars wines. Paul also founded the Schussing Ski Group and for 10 years organized ski trips to Europe. Besides sports, Paul’s passions spanned art history, astrophysics, snorkeling, and learning how to race cars. He also volunteered as an assistant high school golfing coach and as a mentor for people recovering from brain injury at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center where he rehabilitated. Born August 31, 1946 to Alberta V. Marshall Hartrey and William A. Hartrey of Leominster, Massachusetts, Paul graduated from Holy Cross in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature. His career began as a caseworker for the New York City Department of Social Services in 1969 managing a welfare caseload of 120 families in the southeast Bronx, a high-crime neighborhood known as Fort Apache. In 1972 he joined the former New England Electric System in Westborough, Massachusetts as a writer, spokesperson, and eventually manager of employee communications and creative services. By 1982, Paul changed paths to become a construction project manager for Norland Development Corp. of Chelmsford, Massachusetts responsible for converting two 100-year-old buildings in York, Maine into condominiums. Four years later he moved to Silicon Valley as the managing editor the telecommunications newsletter TeleVisual. By early 1989 he was managing creative services for Everex Systems, Inc. of Fremont, California. He and Mary married Oct. 15, 1989 and moved to Naglee Park, the oldest neighborhood in San Jose, California. In 1993 he started Criterium Communications, marketing communications business serving technology companies, including Everex, Hewlett-Packard, and Intuitive Surgical, Inc. Fifteen years later, he joined the medical robotics company Intuitive Surgical as the senior engineering change-order coordinator. In 2008 the company awarded him its top honor for ‘continuous improvement’ of the processes he managed. A year later while leading a MVV bicycling ride Oct. 10, 2009, Paul was T-boned by a gas-powered go-cart driven recklessly out of a parking lot at 35 mph. Despite wearing a helmet, Paul suffered his first traumatic brain injury at 63. Full recovery took a year because he had to re-learn how to remember, walk, ski, and bicycle. Undaunted, he nicknamed himself Boom – short for boomerang – because he kept returning for items he forgot. Paul rejoined Intuitive Surgical, a job he loved, retiring at 70 – still bicycling and golfing nearly daily. He and Mary moved to Westerly, Rhode Island in late 2019, just before Covid terrified the world, to care for Mary’s mother. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2019, Paul combatted the disease with non-contact boxing through the Rock Steady and Punch Back at Parkinson’s programs, always wearing his maroon and gold Rock Steady Fighter tee shirt. Unfortunately, in August 2022, a week after his mother-in-law’s death, he tumbled headfirst onto a metal crosswalk triangle while bicycling in Westerly’s Watch Hill neighborhood. His second traumatic brain injury was worse than the first. Yet Paul pushed himself to continue boxing until summer 2024 when diagnosed with dementia. After trying five care facilities and hospitals in 2025, he returned home in September 2025 for care. When he died July 4th, Paul was dressed in his red, white, and blue MVV kit at his request. Besides his wife, Paul is survived by a daughter, Amanada C. Hartrey, grandchild Delilah V. Honan, and son-in-law Tim Honan all of Richmond, California; as well as his sister Bonnie Hartrey of Port Saint Lucie, Florida; Darius L.A. Ford of Concord, California, who was like a son to Paul; Mary’s large family; and the scores of athletes and friends across the country – many of whom he considered as family. Paul and his family greatly appreciate the skill and compassion of his professional caregivers, HopeHealth hospice nurses and staff, and the excellent care by Dr. Michael Feltes of Mystic, CT. Gatherings to celebrate Paul’s vibrant life are scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 2, at 2 p.m. at The Space, 38 High Street, Westerly, Rhode Island, and in late August in California. His ashes will be distributed along a favorite Silicon Valley bicycling route. To honor Paul, his family suggests donations to support HopeHealth hospice, the Ocean Community YMCA’s Push Back Against Parkinson’s program, or Rock Steady

Tributes

Paul M. Hartrey

July 4, 2026