Nancy Louise (Shapiro) Frank

Nancy Louise (Shapiro) Frank passed away peacefully on April 2, 2023 after an 8-year journey with Alzheimer's disease. Up until the end Nancy maintained her kindness, grace, compassion, appreciation of beauty, love of family and friends, and expressed gratitude for her long life, full of wonderful and varied experiences.

Nancy's life can best be encapsulated by five "F" words: Family, Friends, Flowers, Food and Fun. In her almost 87 years here with us she experienced an abundance of each.

Family: Nancy spent her early years in Douglas Arizona, living with her mother in the home of maternal grandparents, Isadore and Zlate Illitzky, where she felt very loved and supported. While Nancy had close relationships with her various cousins, she was an only child until her half-brother Marc Shapiro was born when she was 11 yrs old. Nancy always knew she wanted to someday raise a family of her own. When she was introduced to Ron Frank by a family friend in July of 1960, she (and Ron) knew she had met the person with whom she would build a family. Married just 6 months later in December of 1960, Nancy and Ron maintained a loving and supportive marriage of almost 55 years up until Ron's passing in 2015. Together they raised two children, Marni (Frank) Good and Brian Frank, regularly engaged with their large extended family which included the wonderful addition of Nancy's two half-sisters Rocki (Berman) DeGroot and Bobbi (Berman) Maass and their families in the mid-1970s, and eventually welcoming Marni & Brian's spouses, Dan Good & Michelle (Levendusky) Frank into their family. Throughout this time, Nancy excelled in creating a beautiful and gracious home which was comfortable for her growing family and embodied the style of Frank Bros., the furniture store run by Ron's family. The crowning glory for Nancy was the arrival of grandchildren: Anna Rose Good, Molly Frank, Quinn Good and Hannah Frank. Nancy delighted in everything about her new role as a grandmother and took on the moniker of "Grancy" to signify her new role. She made it a point to be as engaged as possible with her grandchildren. From babysitting, to sewing and knitting for them, from attending birthday parties and school performances to arranging field trips, Nancy delighted in her grandchildren as much, if not more, than she delighted in raising her children.

Friends: Nancy cherished her friendships, developing them at each stage of her life, with most of these lasting the remainder of her life. At the time of her passing, Nancy still had friendships that she developed in Arizona as a young child, at Rogers Jr. High School and at Wilson High School in Long Beach, at Occidental College, at Frank Bros. Furniture Store. From the neighborhoods where she lived in Long Beach, parents of her children's friends and through her association with organizations such as Nightingales, Assistance League of Long Beach, Literary Women and PTA, Nancy's friendships encompassed all aspects of life, and each was special to her. From phone call chats to joint family outings, to sharing informal and formal meals and entertaining, to class reunions, to adventures near and far, to helping in times of sadness and difficulty, Nancy was up for it all. She was known not just for enjoying her friendships but for being a good friend as well. She was the friend who would drive you to your chemo appointment just as freely as she would join you for lunch. She was known to drop off a bouquet of flowers at your front door just because. Nancy knew that friendships, like gardens, take work to maintain and she was willing to put in the effort, thus got to reap the rewards.

Flowers: Nancy's passion for flowers showed itself at a young age. She often would tell the story of saving her "milk money" from school in order to buy posies of flowers on Friday to take home to her family. At Occidental College, Nancy was known for stealing roses from the quad in the middle of the night, an activity which was forbidden, but as the Dean of Students knew how much this meant to Nancy, she was never fined for her transgressions. At home, Nancy always kept fresh flowers. She became an avid and accomplished gardener who took joy in sharing both her knowledge and creations with friends and family to enjoy in their homes and adorn at celebrations. Over time this love of flowers blossomed into a full-fledged business as Nancy created decor and arrangements for hundreds of weddings, parties, B'nai Mitzvot, fundraisers, galas and funerals as well as botanical baskets that were sold for a time in local hospital gift shops. While Nancy's main motivation was her love of flowers and enjoyment of the creative process, she was proud to be able to contribute financially to her family, especially while her children were in college and during the time immediately after the Rodney King Riots in 1992.

Food: Nancy was known for being a fine cook. She delighted in preparing tasty food to share with her family and friends! Teaching herself to cook via her vast cookbook collection, Nancy took great care in making sure to always use the freshest ingredients frequenting various stores and local farmer's markets. Whether it was a bag lunch for her children, a family dinner, a picnic on the beach, cookies or cakes for the school fundraiser, a dinner party with friends or a holiday feast, Nancy could be counted on to cook something amazing and delicious because it was always prepared not only with her vast skill, but also with boundless love. She was known for her well-balanced meals which always included a fresh vegetable, her ability to cook even complicated dishes such as cheese souffle and Baked Alaska, and in creating beautiful inviting meal presentations and table settings. It was always a treat to sit at Nancy Frank's table!

Fun: Nancy delighted in fun and maintained a love of adventure and learning throughout her life. She was also highly competitive! In her early life, this showed up in Los Angeles where Nancy had many wonderful experiences with her Aunt Lillian Shostac's family over many summers. At Occidental College, she pledged Gamma sorority and was one of the few females in a political science major - an interest she continued to engage in the rest of her life. It was the fun of water skiing that attracted Ron to Nancy upon their meeting. Nancy reveled in being athletic, with a love of swimming and being at the beach. She loved to venture out and would plan weekly field trips for her children and their friends each summer with venues such as The Hollywood Bowl, The Museum of Natural History, The LA Zoo and of course... Disneyland, where she would go on every ride with her family. Ron and Nancy had many adventures as a couple over the years, as well as with their friends and family. Watering trips to Lake Arrowhead, countless beach excursions, family game nights, snow skiing trips, book club evenings, sporting events, museum outings, theater performances, concerts, dinner parties, traveling in the United States and Europe, evenings at fine restaurants, and of course visits to various botanical gardens. While these undertakings often involved pre-planning, Nancy was never one to shy away from a spontaneous adventure and felt these sometimes turned out to be the best.

Nancy was a gem of a person who appreciated all that life gave her. Even in her diminished state near the end of her life, she quickly made friends in her assisted living and memory care facilities, where she was known as a helping friend to fellow residents and could be seen out helping maintain the gardens on occasion. Nancy quickly became a favorite of the care giving staff at both facilities. She maintained a beautiful inviting living space with fresh flowers and chocolates to share with visitors, with the help of her son Brian until her passing.

Until she lost the ability to talk, Nancy would express how grateful she was to have lived a long life full of wonderful experiences as well as a loving family, many good friends and compassionate care givers. She truly embodied the adage of a life well lived.