Nancy Elma Demarest Dellert, 89, passed away peacefully of natural causes at her home at Summer Hill in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Born on July 23, 1935, in Bristol, Conn., she was the youngest of six children of Clarence Augustus Demarest and Elma Whiting Hart Demarest.
Nancy grew up in Plainville, Conn., and graduated from Plainville High School. She married Dwight Carl Dellert in Litchfield, Conn., beginning a partnership that would last a lifetime.
Together, Nancy and Dwight built a beautiful life in Ashley Falls, where they lived for 59 years and worked operating the Dell-Meadows dairy farm from 1965 until they sold it in 1993. After retiring from farming, they built their dream home next door to the farm, a space that reflected Nancy’s extraordinary talent and love for design and restoration.
Nancy was a longtime member of the Old Parish Church in Sheffield. Her passions were many—sewing, gardening, decorating, and travel. She was especially proud of the work she did renovating both an old farmhouse and an abandoned summer camp, designing and sewing every curtain, upholstering chairs, refinishing furniture, and wallpapering with care and creativity. She also sewed woolen capes for the J. Jill apparel/Jennifer House when it was a local shop in Great Barrington.
Nancy was an avid horseback rider, and she loved her collies and her current much-loved cats, Della and Meadow. She and Dwight enjoyed traveling the country in their RV, exploring together and making lifelong memories.
Nancy was predeceased by her husband Dwight; her parents; her five siblings, Roland, Milton, Phebe, Donald, and Gilbert; and a special niece, Jennifer Werner. Nancy is survived by her three children: Deborah (Dellert) Zukowski of Charlemont, Mass.; Sandra (Dellert) Kantor of Guerneville, Calif.; and Gary Dellert and his wife Peggy (Bruns) Dellert of South Sutton, N.H. She leaves behind seven beloved grandchildren—Rebeccah (Zukowski) Stone, Elijah Zukowski, Christinah Zukowski, Matt Kantor, Rachel (Kantor) Thomas, Jessica (Dellert) Worth, and Shannon (Dellert) Parker—as well as two great-grandchildren: Ruby Parker and Henry Parker.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Nancy’s memory be made to the ALS Association or the Michael J. Fox Foundation directly or in care of Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. As requested, a private burial service for close family will be held at Ashley Falls Cemetery at a later date.
Nancy will be remembered for her warmth, creativity, strength, and the loving home she built for her family. Her legacy lives on in every hand-sewn curtain, every flower bed she planted, and in the hearts of those who knew and loved her.
