Nancy Van Buren, 95, designer became artist
March 30, 2023
Nancy Brooks Van Buren of Litchfield Country Club, a fashion designer who had a second career as an artist, died March 6. She was 95.
She was born Aug. 23, 1927, in Patchogue, N.Y., the daughter of Eva Smith and Winfield George Brooks. Nancy grew up outside Philadelphia with her widowed mother, who was a sixth-grade teacher, and her younger sister, Bobbie. She graduated from Moore College of Art with a bachelor’s degree in fashion design, which served her well throughout her career as a children’s clothing designer for Cinderella, Her Majesty and, later, Hamricks.
A single parent from age 25, Mrs. Van Buren’s professional training enabled her to provide for her two young daughters. She appreciated the value of education and supported her daughters’ college goals, as her mother had done for her.
She was able to retire early in 1991 and fulfilled a lifelong dream of living near the beach.
In Pawleys Island, she began taking numerous art workshops, creating a multitude of drawings and paintings, showing her art at the Rice Museum, Georgetown Art Gallery, Gray Man Gallery and Island Art Gallery, and winning awards. Along the way, Mrs. Van Buren walked the beach for sea turtles with SCUTE for 18 years, volunteered at Brookgreen Gardens for 22 years and was president of the Friends of the Waccamaw Library, where she ushered in a popular classic French film series. In her 90s, she became a children’s book illustrator with the “Flash and Fancy” series.
Mrs. Van Buren dreamed of Africa and traveled there four times, as well as to other countries on all seven continents. Her travels were a constant inspiration for the art she made. Nancy lived a full life, always grateful for loving family, dear friends, and her unfailing energy and creativity expressed in a lifetime of art.
She is survived by her daughter, Rebecca Van Buren (Steve Blatt); her sister, Barbara Ermentrout; her grandsons, Daniel Baer (Brian Walsh), Peter Baer (Natalia) and Lyle Baer; her granddaughter, Merritt Baer (Landon Paik); and three great-granddaughters, Sasha, Ines and Denver.
Another daughter, Amy Van Buren, died in 2019.
A private celebration of life will be held in April. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to All 4 Paws Animal Rescue (all4pawssc.org) or Guiding Eyes for the Blind (guidingeyes.org).
