Nathania Gartman

A Beautiful Life

By Faith Maloney

Nathania Gartman loved working with children of all ages, but when pushed to name a favorite age, she admitted to having a special place in her heart for teenagers.

She empathized with the struggles that teenagers face growing up in today's world, and she knew that if they could connect with animals and nature, it would somehow make the passage easier for them.

Nathania was one of the founders of Best Friends, and director of humane education. She'd been suffering from cancer, and she died on July 4th at the age of 55.

She was raised in Alabama and Louisiana, and often talked of the turbulence of those early days of desegregation in the South, where she witnessed racial discrimination first hand in the schools she attended. She became a champion for people of all colors and creeds, and this was reflected every day in her work and the way she lived her life.

As a young woman, she felt a strong calling to serve God, and worked for the Billy Graham Crusades, playing the organ at events throughout the South.

Later she created an alter-ego in the form of Daffydil the Clown (pictured), and in that role she would work with abused and sick children in hospitals and institutions all over the country.

Nathania had a unique way of relating to children. She never spoke down to them, and she was able to give them the space to be themselves while working through the challenges of growing up.

At Best Friends, Nathania started working with schools in the local community, and then all around our home state of Utah. She helped launch Utah's Week for the Animals with art and literature programs, along with humane presentations, in schools statewide.

She was particularly proud of her work with Genesis, a restitution program for young people out of the Utah Department of Corrections. The animals don't care if the students are working through past troubles; they just see lots of loving hands and hearts. And the students see that even though many of the animals that come to Best Friends have been abused, they never lose their capacity to love and forgive. A truly healing lesson for young people who themselves have been abused.

Nathania's reach quickly went beyond the state of Utah, first with several projects on the Navajo Nation in Arizona, and then with national programs. She served on the board of directors of the Association of Professional Humane Educators, and became president of the organization. Even as she battled the cancer that would end her life too early, she never missed a board meeting.

Spreading the word about teaching young people to love the animals was her passion and her life.

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