Marvin C. Hart

Marvin C. Hart, 85, of St. John, US Virgin Islands and Clayton, NY passed away at his Clayton home on Tuesday, July 16, 2024.

Marv was born on Christmas Eve in Rochester, NY to Cogar and Dorothy Hart and was married to Penny Hoehn in 1962. He is survived by his life partner, Bari Bryant; daughter, Kim Hart; son, Kyle Hart; five grandchildren, Candi, Jessica, Kaitlyn, Seneca, and Rowan; four great grandchildren and several nieces, nephews, and cousins. Marv was predeceased by his wife, Penny; son, Kevin Hart; and sister, Barbara Friends.

Marv grew up in a working class family in Rochester, NY and was incredibly industrious his entire life. He was a tradesman early in his career, with a breadth of hustle and entrepreneurialism that led to a wide variety of work in construction, carpentry, painting, and odd jobs such as a flagman at a racetrack on weekends. He advanced quickly in his career as he shifted to develop his people skills, becoming a salesperson who worked his way up from selling office coffee to selling Century 21 Real Estate franchises. His career really took off with Century 21 when he transitioned into executive management, with distinguished regional, national, and international leadership roles (in Rochester, NY, Irvine, CA, and finally Sydney, Australia).  

His business success allowed him to retire at age 55 to the US Virgin Islands, where he returned to his love of building as a tradesman, applying his skills to design and build four houses that presently serve as a family vacation rental business. This incredible post-retirement achievement was representative of Marv as a “Renaissance Man” who believed and demonstrated that he could learn anything and build anything, starting from just an idea.

Marv was known for his immense creativity and wide-ranging interest and skills. Entirely self-trained, he designed and created cannons, trebuchets, duck decoys, animal sculptures, and even built his own paddlewheel boat using the motor of a golf cart. He impressed many palates with homemade sushi and fish chowder.

Marv was a loving and cherished husband, partner, and father. He was wise, always playful, with a good sense of humor. His intellect and his wisdom helped guide not only his children, but anyone he came in contact with. He formed friendships quickly and made friends for life, partly through his positive cheerful manner, but also from his service to others.  He consistently offered advice, aid, and hands-on assistance to anyone who needed it.

His service was particularly notable in the antique raceboat community, both as a participant and judge in the APBA Vintage Division, and as a Race Director for the Clayton Raceboat Regatta.  He was highly regarded for preserving the heritage and tradition of vintage boats. Recently, he proudly restored the Canadiana Grand Prix to museum quality for the Canadian Raceboat Hall of Fame.

As a role model to many, Marv’s legacy lives on in our desire to live such a full life – always learning, always building, and always coming together for shared adventures and fun.

Marv’s family will receive friends at his boat shop at 14805 Purcell Drive in Clayton on Saturday, July 20th, from 2-4 PM.  An additional Celebration of Life will be held later this summer in Clayton.

Those who cannot make it to visiting hours are welcome to share their stories at https://tinyurl.com/MarvinHart/. Online condolences may be posted at cummingsfuneral.com. In lieu of flowers, donations in Marv’s name may be made to TIERS of Clayton (tirescue.org).

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Marvin C. Hart, please visit our floral store.