Louise Hartshorne

Wife of Harold Hartshorne

Louisa ("Louise") Heyer, 51, met her husband Harold Hartshorne through skating. She was a longtime member of the Skating Club of New York, and she and Hartshorne had competed against each other in the veterans' dance at the Eastern Sectional Championships for years. At the time of Harold's marriage proposal, she worked as a secretary for a Manhattan psychologist. After marrying in 1953, Louise spent her days skating and taking care of her husband. She became test chairman for the Skating Club of New York. The couple competed as a team in veterans' dance for a couple years and also performed in the club's shows at Madison Square Garden. In time, she became an active stepmother to Harold's three youngest children, teenagers Dan, Gail and Daryl, who came to live with them on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. She regularly traveled with her husband for his judging assignments. Although she had developed a bad cold during the 1961 North American Championships in Philadelphia, she wanted to travel with her husband to Prague for the 1961 World Championships.

Bio written by Patricia Shelley Bushman, author of Indelible Tracings.