Grant, Nancy
GRANT, Nancy
Nancy Barbara Caplan Grant (née Rottner) passed away on January 14, 2022 at MorseLife Assisted Living in Palm Beach. She was 91.
Just a few months prior to her death, MorseLife underwent a brief renovation, so Nancy was helped by her favorite aide to prepare for a 4-day respite at The Carlisle Palm Beach. In anticipation of this move–an inconvenience for many in their nineties–Nancy showed the same excitement one would see in a teenager before a party. A woman with a huge sense of fun–who loved meeting new people until the end of her days–even with ailments and pains, Nancy retained the traits of her youth.
The oldest of three children of Maurice and Edith Rottner, Nancy was born and grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. She had an idyllic childhood. Her family owned a beach house on Long Island Sound in Westbrook, Connecticut close to the home of Katherine Hepburn and Bill Hahn's Resort (now Water's Edge), which featured, for example, performances by a young Barbara Streisand. Nancy loved being surrounded by nature there. The Rottner's lived in the beach house during summers, including the years Nancy was in high school. After graduating Hall High, she attended the University of Wisconsin, and then Vesper George School of Art in Boston.
In 1950, Nancy married David R. Caplan, a union that was to produce two children: Robin Keuneke and Peter S. Caplan–of blessed memory. On moving the family to Atlanta, Nancy and David, both highly creative people inspired by years of antiquing in New England, started two artisan lighting companies: Georgian Art Lighting and some years later, Plantation Lighting. The companies exemplified the finest of hand-crafted brass and copper lighting in the country. Striking Georgian Art lanterns graced the grounds of the Georgia Governor's mansion on West Paces Ferry Road.
After divorcing in 1982, Nancy began a hand-knit sweater business based original designs that included bringing yarns and her innovative patterns to unemployed knitters, who had no transportation and needed work. Helping these women better their lives brought satisfaction to this fiercely independent woman. She was a fireball. Benefitting from her uncommon ability to excel in both art and business, her bold designs made of the finest yarns exemplified quintessential 1980's color block knitwear, which Nancy placed with high-end retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue.
Some years later, in order to be near her aging parents, she moved to Palm Beach and started Fancy Nancy, a successful handbag and leather goods label. Traveling the world in search of suppliers for her boho designs, which to this day can be found as signed collectibles on Ebay, Nancy was comfortable doing business even in China, where her confidence enabled her to negotiate with aggressive success. It was at this time that she met and married Richard S. Grant, a loving relationship that was to span twenty years until his passing in 2011. In retirement, they found joy in each other's company, which included world travel, many friendships, and philanthropy.
They loved their new Delray Beach home and were as thrilled as two newlyweds to be moving there. It was to become the scene of many memorable parties.
In the years after Dick died, Nancy continued to knit for her own pleasure–and her daughter's. She had a talent for landscape design and gardening, continuing to develop her property at Seagate Country Club in Delray Beach with the same originality found in her sweaters. Large topiaries of fuchsia bougainvillea punctuated mature tropical palms, creating a sense of glamour that Nancy's personal style demanded. Her aptitude for interior design, too, was apparent. Exemplified in her colorful home, Nancy had the confidence, for example, to combine a large reed basket with an antique server. Showcasing the commonplace with the precious was a sensibility that could not be missed in material selections for her handbags and sweaters. Nancy was an avid reader, appreciating the work of Joyce Carol Oates as much as the classics. And she loved painting, particularly the idiosyncratic work of Frida Khalo. Nancy did not miss a bridge game at her country club, nor an opportunity to support her favorite charity, Jewish Federation. Always an outstanding home cook, Nancy formed part of the motivation for her daughter to write books on natural foods cooking.
In addition to her daughter, Robin, and son-in-law, Thomas, of North Chatham, Massachusetts and Delray Beach, Nancy is survived by the daughters of her sister Judith–of blessed memory and her nieces, Amie Phillips and Karen Ellison, both of Atlanta. Despite the pandemic, Nancy was visited frequently at MorseLife by Robin and Thomas, whose company she enjoyed until the very end.
