Mary B. Hotaling

She is predeceased by her mother and father Evelyn and Charles Baumgart and her brother Thomas (“Tom”) Baumgart.

Mary is survived by her husband of 57 years, James Hotaling; daughter Ann Caroline Hotaling (Jacopo Surricchio); daughter Elizabeth Ida and grandsons James McAuliffe and Thomas McAuliffe; brother William Baumgart (Nikki); nephew Andrew Baumgart (Krystal); nieces Shara Hussain (Shaz), Hallie Lovell (Roger), and Anna Schmitt; cousin Peter Golzhauser; brother-in-law Bill Hotaling (Gladys) and family; cousins in the Chicago area; former son-in-law Joe McAuliffe; and many friends and associates.

She was a co-founder of Historic Saranac Lake and Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH), appointed by Gov. Mario Cuomo to the New York State Board for Historic Preservation, and a former town historian for the town of Harrietstown. Mary retired as director of Historic Saranac Lake in 2009.

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and raised in the Midwest, “Mary B” was impressed with the architecture and landscape when she moved east in 1965 to marry her husband Jim, after she took a brief solo tour of Europe, and they spent two years living in the Rittenhouse Square area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their early family years were spent in Evanston, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado, followed by Saratoga Springs, New York. In each of these unique communities she admired the public spaces and local character. That admiration grew into her life’s work when she learned about the tuberculosis curing history of Saranac Lake and dedicated the rest of her life to exploring and preserving that history.

Impressed by the quality of numerous intact cure cottages in Saranac Lake, Mary became a driving force behind historic preservation in Saranac Lake and the Adirondack region, and was particularly devoted to researching and writing about the lives of Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau and the architect William Coulter.

A graduate of Glenbard High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she later went back to school at 50 years old to earn a Master’s Degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont. She was also awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Paul Smith’s College in 2004.

Mary was an editor, historian, historic preservationist, and author of the book “A Rare Romance in Medicine: The Life and Legacy of Edward Livingston Trudeau” (North Country Books, 2016), and graduate thesis about the architectural works of William Coulter. She was involved in many other projects on local history, including the book “Cure Cottages of Saranac Lake, Architecture and History of a Pioneer Health Resort” (authored by Philip L. Gallos), and the film “This Was Heaven, Really.”

Mary appeared in several TV programs about the Adirondack region, including “The Forgotten Plague: Tuberculosis in America,” part of the PBS American Experience series. She was delighted to be part of the work to shed light on the stories of those who cured including composer Bela Bartok, and Adirondack great camps such as the Coulter-designed Eagle Island Camp. She cherished her time as a member of the Reviewers Club, established in 1909.

A celebration of Mary’s life will be held on Sept. 23 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the John Black Room in the Saranac Laboratory Museum at 89 Church St. In lieu of flowers, please make a memorial contribution www.historicsaranaclake.org/in-memory-of-mary-hotaling.html to Historic Saranac Lake, at 89 Church St., Suite 2, Saranac Lake, New York 12983. Friends and family are also invited to share a memory, leave a condolence and sign the online guestbook at https://fortunekeoughfuneralhome.com under the current services tab.