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Obituary: Rhonda Gay Hartman, a fervent defender of the rights of children and adolescents in medical law

Obituary: Rhonda Gay Hartman, a fervent defender of the rights of children and adolescents in medical law

Feb. 4, 1959 - April 7, 2021

When she saw a child in need, Rhonda Gay Hartman couldn’t — wouldn’t — turn away.

A longtime professor at Duquesne University School of Law, lecturer, author and advocate, Ms. Hartman devoted her career to defending the rights of children and adolescents in the area of medical law. She also specialized in innovative surgical procedures, such as face and limb transplants.

“Her heart went out to kids,” said Duquesne University president Ken Gormley, who recruited Ms. Hartman to the law school in 1994. “In her research, she found kids with terminal illnesses who required more care or kids who needed transplants. The thing that tied everything together was caring about other people. She was an incredibly compassionate person who made a national name for herself in these areas.”

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As brilliant as she was stylish — she was known for her elegant dress and Hermes scarves — Ms. Hartman even created a mentorship program for first-year law students that instilled the basics of etiquette and professionalism.

"She was always a meticulous dresser, and she would loan suits of clothes to women with important job interviews,” Mr. Gormley recalled. “She was just constantly devoted to her students.”

Ms. Hartman, of Sewickley, died April 7 of complications from a brain hemorrhage. She was 62.

Growing up in California, Pa., she nurtured plans for her future career and loved dance, said her husband, David A. Borkovic.

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“She studied ballet and moved with the grace of a ballerina,” said Mr. Borkovic, a lawyer. “At California High School, she was a cheerleader and May Queen. I think she aspired to be a lawyer. She was incredibly smart and driven to do something to help people.”

As a student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Ms. Hartman supplemented her income with interesting jobs, her husband said.

“The thing she never, ever, liked people to know is that after she went to class and worked part time in the [Allegheny County District Attorney’s] office, she would go over to Kaufmanns and be a print and runway model for extra money,” he said, laughing at the memory.

Ms. Hartman shared more than just her knowledge with students, friends and loved ones said.

“Rhonda had a professional uniform — it was a sheath dress, a Hermes scarf and 4-inch heels,” her husband said. “She started the mentorship program and introduced students to professional atmospheres, like the Duquesne Club for lunch or a cocktail party, or an interview at a large firm. She was trying to expose them to ideas of professional dress and etiquette.”

Ms. Hartman even offered some students access to her closet for appropriate interview apparel — the ultimate act of benevolence for a fashionista.

“She was an incredibly kind, elegant and thoughtful person,” Mr. Gormley said. “She was just remarkable. It’s been heartbreaking for her students.”

Ms. Hartman observed small niceties too, such as the special birthday message she sent to Mr. Gormley recently.

“She sent me a birthday card and a text with balloons and streamers. She always did things like that,” he said. “I was one of probably 100 people that she thought to do that for.”

“She was obviously a very beautiful, accomplished woman, but the best thing about Rhonda was that she brought happiness into the lives of everyone who knew her,” her husband said. “Watching Rhonda have a conversation with somebody was just a joy to behold, because she never, ever, spoke about herself. Instead, she wanted to know how things were going with the other person. She brought light to a whole lot of people.”

The couple met in the mid-1980s, when Ms. Hartman was hired to conduct research for the firm where Mr. Borkovic worked. Over the years, they stayed in touch, and a romance eventually blossomed between the longtime friends and colleagues. They married in 2008.

“She was a remarkable person, and we were soulmates — we literally had a fairy tale romance,” Mr. Borkovic said. “It’s hard to go forward.”

After law school, Ms. Hartman clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Alan N. Bloch and became a visiting scholar at Georgetown University.

She served as visiting professor at the Pitt and Duquesne law schools and at the Pitt Medical School.

Mr. Gormley met Ms. Hartman when she took his class at Pitt Law School, he recalled.

“We published two articles together, and she was clearly a rising star even at that time,” said Mr. Gormley, who left Pitt for Duquesne in 1994 and served as dean of the law school before he was named Duquesne president in 2016.

She just kept getting better and better and I helped place some of her articles in prestigious law reviews. She kept building her academic credentials, and I recruited her to come to Duquesne when I started teaching at the law school. We were trying to build a law and medicine niche and obviously she had a lot of experience and talent in that area.”

Ms. Hartman organized a dying with dignity symposium that garnered national attention and published hundreds of articles and studies, Mr. Gormley said.

“She did a lot of cutting-edge research about health law for children, medical ethics and innovative transplants, and she lectured in Paris on some of those things,” he added. “She did a fair amount of publishing, and she had national recognition as a scholar. A lot of her work is reprinted in leading law textbooks.”

“She wrote the first article about legal policy implications of face transplants,” her husband said.

Ms. Hartman also helped to craft legislation in health law and served as a peer-reviewer for the Journal of the American Medical Association.

She was a past president of the Pittsburgh Symphony Association and a board member and officer at the Ladies Hospital Aid Society.

His colleague and friend will be remembered for her love of teaching and her many contributions to medical law, Mr. Gormley said.

“She loved teaching, and to her, that was the most important thing you could do in life,” he said. “There was no kinder person, no one who cared more about her students, than Rhonda Gay Hartman.”

Mr. Borkovic keeps a vision of his wife with their beloved golden retriever, Ollie, in his heart.

“The two of them were just inseparable,” he said. “I can see her, dressed in a sundress, with a floppy hat and sandals — a bag of dog treats under her arm — just smiling while he just pulled her around the neighborhood.”

A memorial is being planned for this summer at the Duquesne University chapel.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made the Animal Friends, 562 Camp Horne Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237.

Janice Crompton: jcrompton@post-gazette.com.

First Published: April 21, 2021, 10:30 a.m.

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