Gertrude Mercer Altemus

Gertrude M. Altemus, a gardener who used her knowledge of horticulture to return historic gardens to their former state, died Wednesday at her home in Middletown. Known to her friends as ?Gipsey,? Ms. Altemus was the daughter of James Dobson Altemus of Philadelphia, PA, and Rosalie ?Pillot? Altemus of New York and Newport, RI. She is predeceased by her brother the late Peter Stuyvesant Pillot Altemus of Tuxedo Park, NY.An inveterate traveler, Altemus was born in New York City and grew up in Newport but spent much of her adult life pursuing an eclectic amalgam of talents. She moved to Japan after her marriage, to Jerzyk Hutten-Czapski, an electronics specialist in U.S. Army who was stationed there during the Korean War, and then to Argentina, his home, before returning in 1963 to Palm Beach, where she became a reporter for the Palm Beach Gazette.Ms. Altemus moved back to New York City in 1966 and went to work for the Ad Council, where she helped to develop such public service ad campaigns as ?Smokey The Bear.? She then took a job as an executive assistant at The New Yorker and started summering in the Hamptons, where she met the landscape artist Sheridan Lord. The two were married and built a house in Sagaponack.In 1970 she met and married her third husband, Charles Vanderveer III a resident of Bridgehampton, Long Island, and an authority of Long Island Antiquities. The couple moved to Bridgehampton?s Whiskey Hill Farm, named after a distillery that produced a renowned local brew during Prohibition. While there, she started a self-sufficient farm that raised livestock and sold produce at a roadside stand while providing a ?petting zoo,? including pony rides, to area visitors.During that time Ms. Altemus wrote a horticulture column for the Southampton Press and quickly began focusing on organic gardening and the historic characteristics of gardens. Dissatisfied with local preschools, Altemus, the mother of five children, including two toddlers, started an alternative nursery, The Farm School. It used Whiskey Hill Farm as the foundation of the curriculum and emphasized hands-on experience with farm animals.While living in Bridgehampton, she and her husband developed an auction company, Charles Vanderveer Country Auctioneer. The company, which conducted up to 10 auctions a season, became renowned throughout the Hamptons - as much for providing family entertainment as for making country style chic. A graduate of Miss Collins School and Milton Academy, Ms. Altemus moved back to Newport in 1978 and started a catering business, The Brown Bag, which she based in her ice cream/clam cake shop at King?s Park in Newport. As part of that business, she became the exclusive caterer for The Advance Syndicate, an Australian competitor in the 1983 America?s Cup. Time spent with the syndicate sparked a renewed interest in sailing which led to a variety of sailing experiences including that of crewing on square riggers in a sail training program.She moved to 1276 Green End Avenue, Middletown, RI in 1991 and became involved with the Newport Garden Club. Her specialty was restoring herb gardens, which she did for Green Animals in Portsmouth and the Whitehall Museum House. She was a member of the Colonial Dames of America, The Newport Garden Club, and Spouting Rock Beach Association, to which her family belonged for generations. She is survived by two sons Michael Hutten-Czapski and Charles Stuyvesant Vanderveer, both of Middletown; three daughters, Gertrude Mercer ?Lowie? Crisp, of Newport, Maria ?Bondi? Macomber and Sarah Altemus Vanderveer, both of Middletown; a step brother, Julian Sloan, and five grandchildren.A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2003 at 1:00 p.m. in the St. Columba, The Berkeley Memorial Chapel, Vaucluse Avenue, Middletown.In lieu of flowers, the family requests donation be made to The Whitehall Committee, Altemus Orchard Fund, 21 Bull Street, Newport, RI, 02840.