Nancy Penton Etter
Nancy Penton Etter, 88, of Wallingford, wife of the late John “Jack” Etter, passed away peacefully on February 6, 2018 at the Masonic Home. Born in Cambridge, MA on October 5, 1929 to the late Albert and Elizabeth Peaslee Davies. After growing up in Cambridge Nancy also lived in Arlington, MA where she was an elementary school teacher. She is a graduate of Boston State Teachers College and received her Master’s degree from Lesley College. After retiring she enjoyed living in Bucksport, ME for 14 years. As an active member of the Episcopal Church, Nancy was involved in the choir, the Couples Club, the Senior/ Junior Women’s Guild, and the Alter Guild. Her most recent memberships were with St. John’s Episcopal Church in North Haven after she and her husband moved to Connecticut in 2009. When Nancy wasn’t working or spending quality time with her family, she enjoyed painting. Nancy will be remembered by her sons, Douglas Penton of Steamboat Springs, CO, and Ron (Melodie) Penton of North Haven; grandchildren, Michael (Karan) Penton of Wallingford, Timothy (Maria) of Wallingford, Jinny Summerville of North Haven; great-grandchildren, Taft, Luke, James, Nolan, Gabriel, and April; sister, Sally Smith; many cherished nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews. Nancy was predeceased by her daughter, Linda Penton; siblings, Judy, Edward, Dudley, and William Davies and Priscilla Miller. Friends are invited to a Memorial Service Celebrating Nancy’s life on February 24th, at 11:00 a.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3 Trumbull Place, North Haven, followed by a reception. Contributions in Nancy’s memory may be sent to the Alzheimer’s Assoc., 200 Executive Blvd, Suite 4B, Southington, CT 06489 or www.alz.org, Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, 200 S. Park Rd, Suite 100, Hollywood, FL 33021 or www.diabetesresearch.org, Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, 1359 Broadway, Suite 1509, New York, NY 10018 or www.pdf.org.
To the family of Nancy Etter, My daughter Chloe spent a few Sunday afternoons this past fall reading aloud the beautiful novel Charlotte’s Web to Nancy at Masonicare. Although we knew Nancy for only a short time, it was a gift to us. She clearly loved words and reveled in the work and speech of people who used them well. She was also very perceptive in her .reading. of children and attentive to even the slightest changes in rhythm, pitch and breathing. If Chloe was the least bit distracted by something, Nancy picked up on it. She spoke so fondly of her family always and it was clear that she knew she was enveloped in love and that she never took that for granted. I would love to meet some of the students she taught over the years because it’s clear to me that she was the kind of person who made a difference in her students’ lives. She did in ours and we feel so fortunate. Our condolences go out to your whole family. May you find strength in the love she had for you. Kind regards, Katie Jewett and Chloe Benson
My deepest condolences to the family of Nancy Etter. I first met Nancy when my brothers played football for Jack at BB&N and then had the extreme good fortune of being her room mother when my son Peter Mee was a Kindergartner at Bishop School in Arlington, Nancy was such a wonderful, warm woman who truly loved children and I feel so blessed that Pete was in her class. He and I were both so saddened to hear of her passing. She truly touched our lives and we will always have such fond memories of a beautiful woman with a great sense of humor and such a wry wit! She was certainly the best thing that ever happened to Jack! R.I.P. Nancy – you will never be forgotten.
Ron and Doug, Many years have passed since we grew up together in Arlington with adjoining back yards. For many years it was almost as if we shared an extended family. I still remember traveling back and forth between our houses on an almost daily (if not hourly) basis. I knew Nancy before you did and felt at home in her kitchen or sitting at the picnic table under the apple tree on Ronald Road. Our lives took separate paths as we grew up and started our own families, but I’m glad my folks kept in touch with Nancy throughout the intervening years. I can’t tell you what it meant to my father that Nancy and Ron were able to attend my mother’s memorial party. Now they are all gone and although I have had no contact with either you or Nancy in many years, with the exception of that hour or two in 2012, I felt a deep sense of loss when, quite by accident, I stumbled across her obituary in the Globe today. I wish her and you peace.
Ron, Mel, Doug and Family; Aunt Nancy will be missed by all who knew her She was a very special lady! Thoughts and prayers are with you all.