Nancy Perritt Oppman, 95, passed away on Thursday, Feb, 14, 2019. She was born on March 10, 1923, in Chicago, Ill. Her parents were Warren Peasley and Nina O’Neil Peasley.
Nancy was a loving mother, grandmother (Nana), and great-grandmother. She was preceeded in death by her late husbands, Robert Perritt and secondly, Fredrick Oppman; her sister Susan Peasley; and her brother John Peasley.
She and her first husband Robert Perritt raised two children, Susan Elizabeth Gagosian and Richard Warren Perritt. Susan Gagosian resides in Falmouth, Mass., and Reno, Nev., and Richard Perritt resides in Carrboro, N.C.
Nancy is survived by her grandchildren, Travis Robert Gagosian and Alex Berj Gagosian, and Ian Machado Perritt and Marcia Machado Perritt Lewis; and her great grandchildren, Noah Berj Gagosian and Frank Machado Lewis.
Nancy Perritt Oppman was an accomplished art educator, community artist and printmaker, and museum organizer. She enjoyed teaching at higher educational institutions, service with museums, while holding individual art shows and mentoring younger artists throughout her entire life.
She was well grounded in her training, marked by educational degrees, including a Bachelor of Art History from the University of Chicago (1945), M.A. in Museum Management from the University of Tulsa, as well as a Master of Arts specializing in Printmaking from Governor’s State College in Illinois.
Nancy drew joy and inspiration through her wide travels from Brazil to Cape Cod Mass., and especially living in Saugatuck and attending Oxbow Lake Art School. Nancy spent summers in Saugatuck from very early childhood and later, with her own young children on her parents’ boats.
Her father, Warren Peasley, was Commodore of Singapore Yacht Club. Later, Nancy lived year round in Saugatuck with her husband Fred Oppman, until his death in 1999. She truly loved her life and family and friends, while serving as a true champion of the arts in improving peoples’ lives in general.
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