Nancy S.Teare

1931 - 2020

Nancy Sawin Teare age 88, passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 15, 2020 in Princeton, New Jersey with her two loving daughters by her side. Nancy was born on March 24, 1931 in Boston, the daughter of George W. Sawin and Ida Hamilton Sawin. She grew up in Reading, her parents having lived in Massachusetts all their lives. Nancy was the apple of her fathers eye and she enjoyed the time the two of them would spend together. She attended Reading High School and then Skidmore College, graduating in the Class of 1952 with a BA in Art. After graduation, she moved to Boston and worked as a commercial artist. She married George William Teare, Jr. in 1954 and enjoyed 45 years of marriage, raising two daughters together. Nancy moved to Princeton in 2004 to live closer to her daughters, but remained a New Englander at heart. She rooted for the Patriots, called a water fountain a bubblah, taught her family how to eat a lobster, loved coffee ice cream, subscribed to Yankee magazine, and never bought imitation maple syrup. She spent many summers on Cape Cod during her youth with her parents and her girlfriends. She later shared the love of the Cape with her children and grandchildren, always being the first one in the ocean no matter how cold the water temperature. Nancy was an avid artist all of her life, and her beautiful watercolors of seascapes and New England scenes hang in all the homes of those she loved. She had an innate sense of color which also showed in her interior decorating ability. Nancy displayed her artistic prowess in her many hobbies including needle point, quilting, and knitting. She devoted many hours to her needlepoint including stitching every grandchild their own Christmas stocking. She loved to travel and nothing made her happier than being near the ocean whether to be sailing or walking a beautiful beach and collecting shells with her grandchildren. In the evenings, she enjoyed reading a good spy novel or a beloved poetry book and completing the days crossword puzzle. She grew up in the Reading Congregational Church, where her father was a deacon and sang in the choir. As part of the Daughters of the American Revolution, she was proud of the Sawin heritage tracing it back many centuries to Boxford, England. Nancy was most proud of her family and held them dearly in her heart. She is survived by her daughters Catharyn Teare Cutright of Princeton, NJ, and Susan Teare Morris and son-in-law John Morris of Princeton, NJ; her six grandchildren Brooks Cutright and wife Nahema Mehta, Molly Cutright, Logan Morris McIntosh and husband Tom McIntosh, Nellie Morris, Catharyn Morris, and Annie Morris, along with her three adored great-granddaughters, Annabel and Libby McIntosh and Nyah Cutright. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 22, 2020 at 12:00 noon at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey. A private burial will be held in Watertown, Massachusetts. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made in her name to Skidmore College, Office of Advancement - North Hall, 815 North Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY 12866-1632.