Montpelier, VT

Marilyn Hart, a long-time family doctor who led Central Vermont agencies devoted to the ethics of medicine and end-of-life care, died peacefully surrounded by loved ones on Friday, Nov. 7, at her home in Montpelier. She was 78 years old.

Outside of her storied career in medicine, Marilyn was the proud mother of three boys and a doting grandmother who was adored by her three grandsons and granddaughter.

Born Marilyn Jane Bloom on Aug. 9, 1947, to Charles and Dorothy Bloom, she grew up in Johnstown, PA., an hour and a half east of Pittsburgh. She was an honors student in high school and became the first girl to play the trombone in National Band. A full scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh followed, where she majored in pre-med. After earning her M.D. at Pittsburgh's School of Medicine in 1972, Marilyn interned at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital and spent her residency at Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington, Vermont.

Central Vermont soon beckoned. In 1975, she helmed the Plainfield Health Center along with Dr. John Matthews, and soon made her home on Notch Road in Middlesex. She later lured both her parents and sister, Colleen Bloom, up from Western Pennsylvania to Middlesex, where they transitioned from flatlanders to honorary Vermonters.

Marilyn spent more than 35 years as a family physician near Central Vermont Hospital, first with Dr. Bill Allard's practice and then at Mountainview Medical with Dr. John Valentine, Dr. Peter Dale and Dr. David Ospina. She was a revered doctor who served patients young and old from all over Washington County, where she was seemingly always on-call. Marilyn also volunteered as the Medical Director for Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice for more than 30 years, most of them alongside nurse and director Diana Pierce. She was devoted to the concept of allowing people to die in their own homes, which extended to her role as the chairperson of the Medical Ethics Committee at Central Vermont Medical Center. To this day, her former patients lament her retirement in 2012.

Marilyn leaves behind her three sons, Otis, Charles and Michael; her partner, Jim Powers; her three siblings, older sister Charlotte Grimme, younger brother Jack Bloom and youngest sister Colleen Bloom; her nephew, Leo Crain; her three grandsons, Kiran, Rohan and William; her granddaughter, Eva; and her grandnephews, Charlie and Henry Crain.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to your favorite charity in honor of Marilyn.

Her family intends to host a ceremony open to friends and family in Spring 2026.