Nancy Michaels

1935 - 2026

Nancy Mae (Smith, Garretson) Michaels passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 8th at Our Lady of Peace Nursing Center. She was 90 years old. Her diagnosis of Alzheimer's in 2017 affected her deeply, and she quickly withdrew from what had been a very rich and active life in retirement in Charlottesville with her husband of 40 years, Thomas G. Michaels, Jr. of Syracuse NY. Together they had worked for RMC Events, manning suites and boxes at UVA football and basketball games. They were avid golfers, playing several times per week with each other and with friends at Meadowcreek Golf Course, where Tom was a volunteer. Nancy converted to Catholicism after she married Tom, and they were devout parishioners at Holy Comforter Church for a decade after moving to Charlottesville in 2008 to be near her son Larry Garretson and his growing family. Nancy also served as a docent at Bayley Art Museum, and volunteered for many years in the gift shop at Our Lady of Peace.

Nancy was born July 31,1935 in Wellsboro, PA to Kenneth Marshall Smith and Twila Mae Blanchard Smith. She was a sunny, ebullient child, who loved growing up in that small town with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins nearby, and with the companionship of her little cocker spaniel Taffy. During the war, the family moved to Buffalo NY, where her father worked first as an engine mechanic for Curtis-Wright Aviation and later as an auto mechanic. She attended Depew High School, where she leaned toward creative pursuits – as a cheerleader and member of dance troupes. She was a naturally gifted artist, who despite minimal training had the ability to draw and paint with remarkable realism and nuance.

After high school, Nancy worked as a secretary at Niagara Mohawk Power Company, where she met her first husband Alan L. Garretson. They married in 1957 and had two sons in the next few years: Bruce and Larry. That marriage soured, and by the mid 1960s she found herself a single parent raising two young boys.

In 1982 she married Tom Michaels, a widower and veteran employee at a large Syracuse insurance agency. Tom's boundless good will, devout Catholic faith, and life-long connection to the Syracuse community gave Nancy, at last, the supportive, loving, stable emotional environment she had long struggled to find. The couple enjoyed a vibrant social life with dozens of beloved friends in the Syracuse area and were active in several golf clubs and the New York State Golf Association. During those years Nancy developed an interest in photography. She took classes, and eventually went to work in the photo lab and taught photography classes at a local community college.

Nancy is preceded in death by Tom, by her parents Ken and Twila Smith of Buffalo, and her brother Kenneth Smith Jr. of Lancaster NY. She is survived by sons Bruce Garretson, Larry Garretson, daughter-in-law Susan Sherman, and grandchildren Sarah, Haven, and Nora Garretson, all of Charlottesville, and by the many step-children, -grandchildren, and -great-grandchildren of the extended Michaels family. Interment will take place in a private ceremony in Wellsboro. Friends and family who wish to share condolences and memories, or to discuss the possibility of memorial gatherings are encouraged to email the family at RememberingNSMichaels@gmail.com. Gifts in memory of Nancy, and in honor of the staff, can be sent to Our Lady of Peace, 751 Hillsdale Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22901. Or to Hospice of the Piedmont: https://hopva.org/ways-to-give/