Nancy Ware Wainwright

4/7/36 - 11/24/23 "A Heart of Gold" Nancy Ware Wainwright (formerly Pascal) died peacefully in her Annapolis home on November 24, 2023. To know Nancy Ware Wainwright (called Marnie by her family) was to bask in the glow of her warmth and radiance. She made those of us who had the privilege of knowing her feel special, deeply loved, and supported in a way that was truly unique and beyond words. Nancy was always known for her beauty and grace, and most especially for her kind and loving spirit. She will be missed beyond measure as we carry her within our hearts always. Born Nancy Ruth Ware, she was raised in Miami, Florida, the second of three daughters to Rhoda Chambers Ware and Willard Myers Ware. She graduated from Duke University in 1957, where she majored in English and History. While at Duke, Nancy met and married Robert A. Pascal. The couple moved to Severna Park, Maryland in1958, where they raised four daughters. Nancy was active in the community as a mother, philanthropist, and political partner. She would also contribute articles to the local magazine The Annapolitan. When Robert Pascal retired early from his second term in the State Senate to assume his duties as Anne Arundel County Executive, he appointed Nancy as interim Senator. There she focused on policies that would make the world a kinder and safer place for all people, especially children. Nancy also had an opportunity to serve in her family's business. She was on the Board of Directors of American Waterworks, the nation's largest privately owned water company, for many years until the company was sold in 2000. She was a proponent of policies promoting clean, accessible drinking water. In 1993 she married Robin Catlin Wainwright, and they split their time between Maryland and a home in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, where they built a summer camp to host their grandchildren and their friends. Those who knew Nancy felt truly blessed by her presence, caring, and generosity. She loved her family fiercely but she also befriended and lent a hand to strangers she met along her journey. She had a plaque in her home that read "Bloom Where You Are Planted" and she truly embodied those words. She found a way to be of service wherever life took her. A deeply spiritual person and her Christian faith informed and infused all aspects of her life, Nancy's commitment to love, faith, hope, and charity was at the core of her being. It was real; you could feel it. After years of planning, Nancy and Robin led an expedition that recreated the Journey of The Magi. The pilgrimage was an honoring of the birth of Jesus and a mission to lift up the people of those lands. On Christmas Day of 2000, Nancy rode into Bethlehem on a camel. Her photo was on the cover of The New York Times. Nancy was passionate about her family and its genealogy. In the 1990's she commissioned a book to gather and narrate a family history of the Ware family dating back centuries. The two- volume illustrated book by Barbara Gordon is titled What Love Can Do. Nancy is survived by three living daughters, Catherine (Cathy) Anne Pascal, Margaret (Maggie) Lynn Pascal, and Clara Jane Pascal and was predeceased by her daughter Robin Elizabeth Pascal, who died in 2002. She is also survived by her husband Robin Catlin Wainwright, her step-children Mark Wainwright, Karisa Wainwright, and Timothy Catlin, her sister Rhoda Ware Cobb, eleven grandchildren, and ten (and counting) great grandchildren. A private service will be held at The Church of the Holy Family in Oxford, Maryland, on November 30, 2023. Nancy will be buried next to her daughter Robin at the Pascal Ware Memorial Garden in Easton, Md. To honor Nancy and her family's long history of commitment to clean water, if you wish to make a donation in her name, please send a donation to Charity:Water, which works to provide safe, clean drinking water all over the globe. https://www.charitywater.org/donate or Youth for Christ of Maryland. https://mmyfc.org/give. Funeral services are being provided by Hardesty Funeral Home in Annapolis.