Nancy B. "Nina" Begue

Nancy B. Begue "Nina" 10/23/34 ~ 7/16/06 Nina Begue died suddenly at home early Sunday morning, July 16, 2006, of a pulmonary embolism. She had been undergoing treatment for cancer for almost a year. Nina was born on October 23, 1934, in Oil City, Pennsylvania to H. Douglas and Nancy Brown. She was raised in Oil City and attended college at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. Nina enjoyed family, cooking, travel and her many friendships. After college, she spent over a year in India with the United States State Department. She loved to travel and visited many countries in Europe, Nepal, India, China, Australia, Japan, South Africa and Egypt. Nina enjoyed helping others travel and worked for many years as a travel agent, eventually owning her own agency in Salt Lake City, Wasatch Travel. Nina married Bernard Begue in 1957, and together they had four children: Yvette, Christopher, Timothy and Michael. Nina and her family lived in Paris, France for seven years, Chicago, Illinois for 10 years, as well as North Carolina and New Jersey. The family finally settled in Salt Lake City in 1980 and stayed here. Yvette now lives in Boston with her husband John Fawell and two children, Ted and Charlie. Nina and Bernard's sons live in Salt Lake City. Chris has a son, Christopher; Michael is married to Denise, and they have a son, Alexander; and Tim lives with his long-time partner, Catherine Kirby. Nina was loved by her grandchildren for her wise and happy nature. Nina's love of cooking, developed while living in France, led her to teach cooking classes for many years. Later, she joined the gourmet group Chaine des Rotisseurs and was active in planning gourmet trips to France and Italy. She was brave, and started a new League of Women's Voters chapter in rural North Carolina in 1970. Her love of people led her to work with numerous charitable and civic organizations, including serving as a board member with Art Space during its developing years, and then with Red Butte Arboretum as a board member for six years. She liked to organize and plan fund-raising activities with these organizations, as well as with Rowland Hall. She was an active member of both NAWBO and the Salt Lake Chamber SCAN group, and was good at informal mentoring of women wanting to go into business. Nina learned tennis and became a hard-hitting lefty player, very tough on the courts. She loved Jackson, Wyoming, her childhood summer cottage on the Allegheny, and France where she spent many months enjoying the food, the people and the country. Her friendships were numerous and deep, often mixing the role of mentor with love and humor. She had faultless style, but never took herself too seriously. Nina was preceded in death by her parents and her younger brother, Bill. She is survived by her husband, a brother, Douglas Brown who lives in Colinsville, Illinois, and her sister, Ann Abdalla who lives in Burnt Hills, New York. Memorial services will be on Saturday, July 29 at 10:00 a.m., at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark- Episcopal, located at 231 East, 100 South in Salt Lake City. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.