“At 3:30 p.m. on a cool but clear day in 1935 a baby daughter, Nancy Elva, was born to Captain and Mrs. Charles W. Skeele.”
So began Nancy Skeele’s 1953 English 12 Autobiography writing assignment at DeRuyter Central School, DeRuyter, N.Y.
With a calendar full of travel plans, volunteer functions and events awaiting her; Nancy Elva Skeele Edwards, of DeRuyter, passed away suddenly on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018.
Born in Baltimore, MD, on March 27, 1935, and continuously moving up and down the eastern seaboard following her father’s position in the Grange League Federation and his various military postings during World War II, Nancy and her two siblings, older brother Winslow Skeele and younger sister Susan Skeele Hansen, learned how to pack light and be fast on their feet; new locales, new friends and new schools were the order of the day and contributed to an action filled, educational and fun packed childhood (how many children got to be “flavor testers” for Wrigley’s reintroduced offering – Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum?)
After the war and the return of now Colonel Skeele from Europe, the family was able to settle into their restored farmhouse on DeRuyter Reservoir and begin a somewhat less hectic family life; in Nancy’s case, the simple joy of being in one classroom for an entire school year was pure bliss. When her quickly developing artistic talent combined with the nurturing of her high school art teacher, Gordon Muck, Nancy resolved to become not only an art teacher but an artist in her own right. As the DeRuyter Central School Class of 1953 valedictorian she took her Scholastic Art Magazine Scholarship and accepted the offer to attend the College of Fine Arts at Syracuse University for the 1953 fall semester.
University life in the early 1950s was the usual mix of academic responsibility, latent maturity and social exploration; Nancy was invited to join Kappa Alpha Theta, and, while actively pursuing her studies; in a bit of coloring outside the lines, enjoyed a mutual “sweeping-off-one’s-feet” with Don Edwards, a fellow university student in the School of Speech and Dramatic Arts. This resulted in a wedding ceremony on Aug. 31, 1954 at the Beverly Methodist Church in Beverly, N.J., and a move to University married student housing (basically repurposed Army barracks locally known as Fertility Flats) once their son, Donald Lee Edwards II, entered the scene on Sept. 15, 1955.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, magna cum laude in 1957, Nancy accepted her first teaching position at Fayetteville Elementary in the Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District that fall. With a quantity of real world experience under her belt, she began her Master’s Degree in Art Education at Syracuse University and completed it in 1962; with yet another offspring, daughter Susan Beth Edwards, born Feb. 10, 1962 in attendance. Putting her knowledge, talent and skills to work, Nancy educated budding artists for decades in numerous central New York school districts; completing her teaching career in 1990 at the Fabius-Pompey Elementary School and joining Elsie the Dragon in retirement.
With a personal genealogy that includes Colonial America, it seems only fitting that she and Don would purchase a circa 1804 millwright’s house in Delphi Falls, N.Y., in 1959 and began a remodel project or two; all of which eventually lead to their “hobby” of purchasing homes (circa mid/late 1800s) to rehabilitate and rent. This respect for history was manifest in Nancy’s involvement and leadership roles in the Town of Pompey Bicentennial celebration, Delphi Falls Cemetery Restoration, Friends of Lorenzo, the Fabius Pompey Community History and Arts Festivals and as a Yorker Club advisor. While busily raising a family with Don she was, at times, president of the Kappa Alpha Theta Corporation Board, a member of the Junior League of Syracuse, an early docent at the Everson Museum of Art and, of course, a Cub Scout Den Mother. In recent years, her ongoing participation with the Pompey Historical Society, New Woodstock Free Library, Cazenovia Watercolor Society, as well as the Cazenovia Shakespeare Club added to that packed calendar.
Adding in their whirlwind college romance, Nancy and Don (deceased) were together for 63 delightful years. Their two children, Lee Edwards and Susan (Edwards) Gregory both reside in Breckenridge, CO, along with Lee’s wife, Debra and son Alex, Susan’s husband, John and sons Brandon and Josh. Lee and Debra’s daughter, Brianne (Edwards) Mouton, her husband, Wes and daughter Harper Anne live in Austin, Texas and a close member of the extended family, Matt Gorman, lives in Frederick, Maryland. Affectionately known as Aunt Nancy to the nephews and nieces of the Skeele clan of DeRuyter and the Edwards clan of East Sparta, Ohio, she will be sorely missed, fondly remembered and always loved. A private burial service will be held at Skeele Memorial Park, Fabius Evergreen Cemetery at a later date. Please send any remembrances in her name to the Pompey Historical Society, the New Woodstock Federated Church, the New Woodstock Free Library or your favorite charity; thank you.
“Most of all Nancy wants to make her place in this world, helping in some way to establish a better and peaceful universe by unity.” – The last sentence in that bright-eyed 18 year old’s English essay; as with so many things in her wonderfully creative, prolific and over-the-top life, Nancy received an “A” ….
Smith Funeral Home, DeRuyter has arrangements.
