Nancy Lance Bacon

Nancy Lance Bacon, an accomplished artist, died peacefully on April 8, 2016, in her home in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. She was 91. She lived a happy and creative life, devoted to her family, friends and art.

Born in Scarsdale, New York, on December 16, 1924, to Nancy Hubbard Lance and Harold Jackson Lance, she was the first-born of three beautiful, talented and engaging daughters. She moved often during her childhood, and the place she remembered most vividly was Ashtabula, Ohio, where her family, the Hubbards had lived for many generations. Nancy spent summers at Hanoum Camp in Thetford, Vermont. She loved the outdoors and nature played a huge role in her art and the places she chose to live. She graduated from Evanston High School, spent a year at the Art Institute of Chicago and received her B.A. from Carleton College, where she was President of her class, in 1946. Nancy often spoke about how her childhood years and education were affected by the war and the Depression, experiences that shaped her compassion for those less fortunate.

In 1947, Nancy met Francis Warner Bacon of Erie, Pennsylvania. They were married in April of 1948 and raised a family of four children while Nancy continued to study painting. She took classes with Andy Sanders in Erie and Louis Bosa and Alberta Cifoletti Lamb at the Cleveland Institute of Art. "I can hardly remember the time when I wasn't doing some kind of painting," Nancy said during an interview at the Erie Art Museum. "My first memory was in kindergarten… I had a wonderful teacher, and she told me, 'I want you to do a painting and I don't want you to use the colors you normally would, just use your imagination, do anything you want to.' And I remember the painting. I did a sailboat on yellow water with a green sky and the sailboat was blue. That was the beginning of my experimentation."

She was prolific. Her paintings were hung in many exhibitions throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York State, and Florida. Her solo retrospective at the Erie Art Museum in 1996 showed the progression and vast range of her artistic talent. Today, her work is in collections at PNC, the Erie Art Museum and the homes of many collectors.

For over 60 years, Nancy and Warner made their permanent home in Erie. They wintered in Sanibel, Florida and summered in Georgian Bay, Ontario. Later, to be near extended family, Nancy and Warner became longtime summer residents of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.

Nancy served on the board of the first Erie Art Club and the Erie Art Center - now the Erie Art Museum. She was President of the Erie Junior League from 1962 to 1964, founding member of NPAA, served on the Art Council Board, The Civics Advisory Committee and the board of The Erie Philharmonic. She was a docent at the Cleveland Institute of Art and Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation.

Nancy was preceded in death by her husband Francis Warner Bacon, and her two sons, E. Warner Bacon and Matthew L. Bacon.

She is survived by her daughters Nan Bacon and her partner Sam Low, of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts and Catherine (Kitty) Koch, and her husband Jim Koch, of Wellesley, Massachusetts; her daughter in-law Gina Fritz Bacon of Fairview and her seven grand children - Christopher Koch, Carrie Koch, Everett Bacon, Ashley Bacon, Natalie Bacon, Abigail Bacon, and Molly Bacon.

A memorial service and a reception to follow will be held at The Cathedral of Saint Paul's, 133 West 6th St., Erie, on May 7th at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Nancy's memory to the Erie Art Museum or to Saint Paul's Cathedral.

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