Nancy A. Del Bianco

On May 3, 2018, Nancy Ann (O'Rourke) Del Bianco slipped the surly bonds of Earth. A devout Catholic, she has now touched the face of God and been reunited with family and friends who preceded her in death.
Born and raised in Rutland, Vermont, Nancy attended Christ the King grade school and Mount St. Joseph Academy, graduating in 1948. She participated in theater at MSJ and starred in one of the musicals. After high school, she attended Trinity College in Burlington on a scholarship, graduating in 1952.
While at Trinity, she began dating Henry "Red" Del Bianco, whom she had known in high school and who was then attending UVM. It soon moved on to something more serious. They became engaged, but Henry was an ROTC student and so further plans would have to await the completion of his service commitment. Nancy taught English and French at the high school level in Vermont while Henry served in France. They were married on June 27, 1955, in Rutland. Their marriage lasted for over 60 years, ending only with Henry's passing in 2016.
Henry was a civil engineer with a desire to see the world and the opportunity to work on projects on every continent, which led to Nancy living on four of those continents and actively raising a family on three of them. As newlyweds, Henry and Nancy moved to Virginia, just outside Washington, DC. Mark was born in 1956 and later that year, Nancy flew to Clark Air Base in the Philippines to join Henry in Manila, where Marie was born in 1957. Then it was back to Maryland, where Peter joined his older brother and sister in 1958. There was a period of relative stability in Maryland until 1965, during which time Paul (1960) and Meg (1963) joined the family. Henry continued to work on overseas projects during this time, while Nancy stayed behind and did her best to keep the growing brood from hurting themselves, and each other, with only mixed success.
In 1965, Nancy, with five kids aged 2 to 9, boarded a TWA jet at Dulles International Airport bound for Rome. She didn't lose any of the children or their luggage, and so it came to be that Nancy and the kids were reunited with Henry at their new apartment just off the Corsa di Francia, and a stone's throw from the Coliseum, the Vatican, the Spanish Steps and all else that Rome has to offer. This was home for Nancy and the family for the next three years. It was a wonderful time. Americans were still held in high regard on account of the war effort, the dollar was king and the turbulent social upheavals of the mid- to late-'60s in America had not reached Europe. There were day trips in and around Rome, weekend trips to the Apennines or to Fregene, and longer trips to Florence, Venice, the Alps or along the Amalfi coast, everyone crammed into a tiny Peugeot station wagon. Roadside picnics spread out on a blanket were the norm, with bread, salami, cheese, deviled eggs, tomatoes and lemonade or iced tea. Nancy was an excellent cook and together, Henry and Nancy began a lifelong practice of hosting dinner parties, for clients and co-workers, with a rainbow collection of nationalities, ethnicities and spoken languages.
In the summer of 1967, Henry swapped jobs and living quarters with a colleague in the Athens office. They packed up the family and ferried from Brindisi through the Straits of Corinth to Athens, where the stout Peugeot allowed the family to explore the Acropolis, Delphi, Mount Olympus, Thermopylae and many other sites during that summer.
Nancy embraced this life of travel and discovery, and encouraged her children to do the same. Because of her command of languages, including becoming fluent in both spoken and written Italian, she was often the one to interact with the locals at a restaurant or hotel along the way. She had a natural effervescence and enthusiasm that was contagious. Not one to fret over the types of things that concern today's parents, Nancy encouraged her kids go off together in Rome or Athens to explore and picnic on their own.
It was back to Kensington, Maryland, in time to start the school year in September 1968. Nancy did her best to keep the troops in line, while Henry continued to travel for work. She wore the hats of single parent and nurturing mother well.
Nancy's true talent as a parent was her ability to instill confidence and independence in her children. As first evident in Rome when she encouraged her children to go off on their own and explore, Nancy supported each of her children along the path that they chose for themselves. She sometimes gently applied course correction initiatives, but for the most part, she let the kids choose their way.
In 1975, Henry changed jobs and the family moved to Wyckoff, New Jersey. Nancy embraced her new life with enthusiasm. The family was changing, as Mark and Marie remained behind in Maryland at college, and Peter left a year later for New York City. Nancy remained in Wyckoff while Paul and Meg finished high school and moved on.
When Meg left for college in 1981, Nancy flew to join Henry in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where they remained for the next two years. This was a change of lifestyle for independent, active Nancy. Because of the cultural/religious norms, she was not allowed to drive a vehicle, and so was provided with a male driver. And she could not expose skin, so she had to wear a burkha when out of the house, even in the heat of the desert. While in Saudi, Nancy returned to her teaching roots, teaching English to several of the young princesses in the Alireza branch of the royal family.
Nancy and Henry returned to Wyckoff in 1983, where she did substitute teaching at a local Catholic grade school. They later moved to Caracas, Venezuela, where they lived until 1989. Nancy again embraced the adventure, exploring the mountains, seacoast and backcountry with Henry, and once again establishing a reputation as the dinner hostess of choice.
Upon their return stateside, and with the kids launched as adults, Nancy and Henry decided that it was time to return to Vermont. They moved back to Center Rutland in 1990, and reconnected with their multitude of relatives and friends. Nancy continued her dinner parties and supplemented her days with gardening, bridge, book clubs and new-found talents for landscape painting and flower preservation. She also maintained a voracious correspondence with friends and colleagues, in both English and Italian. Nancy's writing was legendary! No birthday, anniversary or graduation ever passed for children, spouses, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and godchildren without a card and a note from Mom/Nana/Aunt Nance.
Nancy was the middle daughter of Charles J. and Margaret (Callahan) O'Rourke, of Rutland, Vermont. Her parents and four siblings preceded her in death, as did her husband, Henry. She is survived by her children Mark (Mary), Marie (Ken Schubert), H. Peter (Ellen Hoffman), Paul (Cathy) and Meg (John) Ernst; and her 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
A Mass to celebrate Nancy's life will be held at St. Peter Church in Rutland, Vermont, at a date to be determined. A graveside service in Evergreen Cemetery will follow the Mass.
Nancy would ask that you say a prayer for her and your loved ones in tribute. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Wilber Fund at the University of Vermont in honor of Henry and Nancy Del Bianco, or to Recovery House Inc., 98 Church St., Wallingford, VT.