Jocelyn Beth Hartley

Jocelyn Beth Hartley, known to those who loved her as Lyn, lived a remarkable life defined by independence, perseverance, and a deep commitment to the communities she called home. She traveled the world, raised toddlers in the Alaskan wilderness, returned to college in midlife to get her bachelor’s degree and law degree, and spent nearly two decades helping families navigate some of their most difficult moments. She was a woman who continually found ways to begin again, and she leaves behind a legacy of self-reliance, determination, and service.

Lyn's story began with an adventurous childhood overseas. She lived in Dharan, Saudi Arabia with her parents Jim Hartley and Elizabeth Corning Hartley, and her brothers Craig and Garth. The family was exposed to a culture very unlike ours, especially for women and girls. At 14, because she was becoming a young woman and because the Saudi Arabian government didn’t support education for girls in the 1950s, her parents sent her to The American School in Beirut, Lebanon. Leaving her family was difficult for a young girl, but fortunately, Lyn was born with an independent nature. Throughout her life she held fond memories of that school. In 1958, Beirut erupted in a civil crisis, and at age16, her parents sent her, alone, to the United States to safely finish her education at Penn Hall, a private high school for girls in Chambersburg.

Fortunately for Lyn, her assigned roommate at Penn Hall was Ricki Winner (Claster), and a long friendship began. Ricki brought her home for the holidays where she met and fell in love with Ricki’s brother, Lou Winner.

Lyn and Lou were married in 1959. They had three children, Taryn Winner Sprague, Scott Winner, and Sarah Winner Seitz.

In 1963, Lyn set out on another travel adventure by following her military husband to Alaska. Living in Alaska created even more adventurous and courageous memories, like raising a young family at 30 degrees below zero, building igloos that lasted until July, and communicating with the rest of her family by mail only. The letters we have from then, and throughout her life, are priceless.

When they returned from Alaska, Lou set up his dental practice in Lock Haven and Lyn supported her husband’s practice in the office. As was the culture in the 1960s, Lyn set out to do volunteer work to fill her days.

She became active in many ways in Lock Haven, hoping to give back to a community that became her first permanent home. She worked for the American Cancer Society and the Lock Haven Hospital Auxiliary. She taught reading and English through the Ross Library, supported and worked for political parties and campaigns, and managed fundraising for various schools. For nearly 20 years she committed herself to the Children’s Aid Society, serving on its Board of Directors as Secretary, Treasurer, and President. She was instrumental in setting up the Historic District in Lock Haven by working through the Heritage Committee of the Clinton County Historical Society and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It became the largest National Historic District in Pennsylvania at the time. She also worked with friends and neighbors to set up the West Branch Valley Flood Control Association. In that role, she testified before the Susquehanna River Basin Commission in Harrisburg and the Senate Subcommittee on Water Resources in Washington, D.C. During that period, she also laid down in front of an Army Corps of Engineers sponsored bulldozer to protest the demolition of her own historic home. Perhaps her most rewarding work was with the Lock Haven Community Foundation. She served on its Board and was proud to be able to do the work of the Foundation.

Throughout her life Lyn wanted desperately to finish her education. She attended Case Western Reserve University, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Alaska. After her marriage broke up in 1981, she dedicated herself to her education. She finished college at Lock Haven State College with a Bachelor of Arts, Summa Cum Laude, and went on to get her J.D. at Wake Forest University School of Law in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Lyn showed everyone in her life how to “pick yourself up by your bootstraps” and carry on. She modeled self-reliance and perseverance. It’s a lesson that will stay with her children and grandchildren for years to come.

She practiced law in North Carolina for several years then returned to Lock Haven to marry her soul mate, Joe Nicholson. Joe and his daughter Kelleigh Nicholson Satterfield brought joy, peace, and stability back to her life. It was then she began her legal career in Pennsylvania, clerking for President Judge Carson Brown in Lock Haven. After two years, her ambition got the best of her, and she took a position as Family Court Master and Domestic Relations Hearing Officer in Lycoming County. In that role, she heard testimony, considered evidence, and helped the court address sensitive matters involving families, children, and financial support. Her work placed her at the intersection of the law and people’s lives. Her careful judgment, fairness, and understanding of difficult family circumstances were essential in the role. Lyn had finally found her calling.

She worked for the court for 18 years. The work that meant so much to her and saved her after Joe died unexpectedly in 2004.

In 2008, Lyn took on retirement as she did everything else, with typical determination, and could be found energetically building a new garden, learning how to make beautiful, award-winning quilts, and traveling with her brother Craig, his wife Susan, and her daughter Taryn to Budapest, Hungary to see the country her grandmother immigrated from in 1915.

By 2015, dementia was beginning to change Lyn's life. She slowed down and struggled with the confusion that increasingly shaped her days. In classic Lyn fashion, she did her best to plan for the inevitable, but even the best-laid plans cannot prepare a family for everything dementia brings. The disease led to decisions and circumstances that increasingly separated her from the people who loved her. Her family could do little but watch, worry, and hold on to the parts of her they could still reach. By 2019, dementia had taken much of her, and in many ways, her family had already lost her.

The final six to seven years of Lyn's life were among the most tragic and difficult for her family to reconcile. They tried to love her through it, even when it was hard to know what she needed or how to give it to her. Dementia is an insidious thief. It steals your loved one for days, weeks, even years at a time. Cruelly, it gives her back for an hour here or there, just long enough to rekindle hope.

Now you see her; now you don't.

Jocelyn Beth Hartley, 85, died on September 19, 2026, from Wernicke-Korsakoff dementia. By the end, her family had come to accept that the mother, grandmother, sister, and friend they knew was no longer the person she had once been. Sadly, she was gone from us long before she was gone from this world.

Lyn’s burial will be a private service for family only.

She would love that donations made in her honor be directed to the Clinton County Community Foundation: PO Box 652, Lock Haven, PA 17745 or clintoncountyfoundation.org.