Nancy May Lawrence, 86, of Mount Olivet Church Road in Elkton, died Sunday, April 2, 2017 at University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville.

Mrs. Lawrence was born October 25, 1930 to parents Roger Dunham Powers and Grace Irene Griswold Powers in Long Island City Queens. She shares her birthday with her father. They lived in Jackson Heights, Queens. They shortly moved to Westfield, NJ in 1932. They moved to Hempstead Long Island in 1938, just in time for the Great New England Hurricane. The family moved to Great Neck, NJ in 1941. She had vivid memories of where she heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor. She also has fond memories of working as an air raid monitor at school and playing with her newfound refugee friends. Nancy learned to sew about this time and began making her own dresses, a practice she kept throughout her life. She was also fascinated with building projects on the way to and from school, sometimes collecting leftover wood pieces. Nancy started regularly attending Sunday School at the Christian Science church and continued to serve the church membership wherever she was a member by teaching Sunday School, working on various committees and serving as a 1st Reader or 2nd Reader several times.

In 1943 her family then moved to Silver Spring, MD where they remained for many years. There she attended Tacoma Park Jr. High and later attended Coolidge High School, in the District, which was better suited for college bound students. She loved to baby sit, especially one particular family that had a good collection of Jazz and Classical music, a joy she would cherish throughout her life and impart to her children. During High School she was a writer and editor for the school newspaper. She attended Syracuse University, enrolling in Liberal Arts. But for her second year she applied and was accepted to the Interior Design program with their Department of Visual and Performing Arts, which was one of the few in the nation at that time. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta and acted as Social Chairman for the house. After missing a semester Nancy graduated with honors in 1953. She recalls her favorite classes were in design, but especially Mechanical Engineering, where she was the only woman in the class. During summers and after graduation she worked at Upholstery Fabrics. Her favorite job at The Glass House followed. They dealt in Modern Glass, Furniture and Design/Planning.

In the summer of 1952 Nancy and a friend attended an outdoor Ballet performance that was rained out during the 2nd act. On the way out she met her future husband Alfred F. Lawrence, Jr., a recent graduate of West Point Academy (’52) and stationed at Fort Belvoir, VA as an Engineer. Before they married, however, Lt. Lawrence served 17 months in Korea. The two married in 1954 and moved to Seattle, WA later that year and were soon joined by their first daughter. When they were stationed back at Ft. Belvoir, VA, their son was born on their Anniversary. Shortly afterwards the family moved to Robert-Espagne and Nancy, France. There Nancy helped design the interior of the Officers Club. Upon return to the US in 1961 they moved to Ft. Leavenworth, KS while Alfred attended the Command and General Staff College. The family then returned to Springfield, VA where they expanded the family with their last daughter. They resided there until Alfred’s final retirement in 1995 and their subsequent move to Elkton, VA.

One constant in Nancy’s life was her love for color, the arts and most things creative. In addition to pursuing various interior design projects for several local Christian Science Reading rooms in the Washington DC area, she was a frequent patron of the area theaters, jazz performances, the symphony, and art museums. When time allowed she was frequently honing her own drawing, painting or ceramic art skills. She often volunteered to teach children out of her home, at the local elementary school, and through the Springfield Art Guild. When they retired to the Shenandoah Valley, she found new museums and causes to support, with frequent trips back to the ‘city’ for various shows or exhibits. She continued to expand her creative repertoire with knitting, sewing and quilting well into her 80’s. Her other creative love was for gardening. Both Alfred and she enjoyed many hours laboring with love in their garden at their Elkton home.

Nancy will be dearly missed by her children and their spouses, Wendy Eastham (William), Dale Lawrence (Sallie), and Suzanne Wulff (Thomas), along with her beloved granddaughters, Laura Westbrook (Ryan), and Frances Lawrence.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 3, 2017 at the Kyger Funeral Home located at 3173 Spotswood Trail in Harrisonburg, Virginia. A private burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family recommends contributions to Habitat for Humanity, supporting a local arts education program, or planting a tree in her honor as more appropriate tokens of condolences and support.