Nancy Harper Mar 29, 1934 - Feb 3, 2012 50-Year Resident of Pleasant Hill Nancy Gene Martin Harper ("Nan") died peacefully at home in Benicia, CA after a 6 year battle with lung cancer. Nancy was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, to E Stanley and Mabel Thomson Martin. The eldest of four children, Nancy moved about due to her father's military service and his work as an itinerant photographer. Attending high school in Vallejo, California, she met and married James Leonard Harper, and they made their home in Pleasant Hill, CA for 50 years.
Nancy received her BA in Anthropology from Mills College in Oakland in 1980. As a teen Nancy worked in her grandfather's photo studio, learning photo storage, retouching and restoration. She started a successful photo retouching business at age 21 working at home while raising 4 children. Her passion for photography led to years of compiling genealogical photos, making and selling beautiful albums, and producing a highly professional plethora of her own photography. She learned drafting skills from her father one post-war winter in Colorado; becoming one of the first female draftspersons in nuclear design at Mare Island, Vallejo. Her drafting skills were applied to home, pool, landscape and other designs, including her beautiful retirement cottage in Benicia. At home she was a creative manager and educator of her four children, a consummate hostess, gourmet cook, and interior decorator. She traveled extensively with her husband Jim and other dear friends. She was a talented artist, expressed in numerous handicrafts, graphic design, theater costume and program design, and also took the stage in various productions. She was a talented singer and pianist, and sang with Sweet Adelines. She was a lifetime jazz aficionado and passed down her interest and talent for music to all her children.
Nancy is survived by her children Robert Harper (Susan), Kim Harper Brooks, Kristin Harper Bush (Robert), and Kelly Harper Walter (Bryan); grandchildren Dennis Harper (Jennifer), Robyn Jennings (Ben), James D Ball (Ella Bernardo), Kaitlin Brooks, Kenneth Walter, Andrew Walter; 5 great-grandchildren; sister Kay Ann Martin, and brother Peter Martin. She is preceded in death by her husband James L Harper, brothers John Thomson Martin and Carl Frederick Martin, and sister Hisae "Kay" Phelps.
A memorial celebration will take place Delta View Golf Course, 2222 Golf Club Rd, Pittsburg, CA, on Saturday, February 18th , at 11AM. Ashes to be interred together with those of her husband James at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, Dixon, CA.
Nancy received her BA in Anthropology from Mills College in Oakland in 1980. As a teen Nancy worked in her grandfather's photo studio, learning photo storage, retouching and restoration. She started a successful photo retouching business at age 21 working at home while raising 4 children. Her passion for photography led to years of compiling genealogical photos, making and selling beautiful albums, and producing a highly professional plethora of her own photography. She learned drafting skills from her father one post-war winter in Colorado; becoming one of the first female draftspersons in nuclear design at Mare Island, Vallejo. Her drafting skills were applied to home, pool, landscape and other designs, including her beautiful retirement cottage in Benicia. At home she was a creative manager and educator of her four children, a consummate hostess, gourmet cook, and interior decorator. She traveled extensively with her husband Jim and other dear friends. She was a talented artist, expressed in numerous handicrafts, graphic design, theater costume and program design, and also took the stage in various productions. She was a talented singer and pianist, and sang with Sweet Adelines. She was a lifetime jazz aficionado and passed down her interest and talent for music to all her children.
Nancy is survived by her children Robert Harper (Susan), Kim Harper Brooks, Kristin Harper Bush (Robert), and Kelly Harper Walter (Bryan); grandchildren Dennis Harper (Jennifer), Robyn Jennings (Ben), James D Ball (Ella Bernardo), Kaitlin Brooks, Kenneth Walter, Andrew Walter; 5 great-grandchildren; sister Kay Ann Martin, and brother Peter Martin. She is preceded in death by her husband James L Harper, brothers John Thomson Martin and Carl Frederick Martin, and sister Hisae "Kay" Phelps.
A memorial celebration will take place Delta View Golf Course, 2222 Golf Club Rd, Pittsburg, CA, on Saturday, February 18th , at 11AM. Ashes to be interred together with those of her husband James at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, Dixon, CA.
Nancy Harper Mar 29, 1934 - Feb 3, 2012 50-Year Resident of Pleasant Hill Nancy Gene Martin Harper ("Nan") died peacefully at home in Benicia, CA after a 6 year battle with lung cancer. Nancy was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, to E Stanley and Mabel Thomson Martin. The eldest of four children, Nancy moved about due to her father's military service and his work as an itinerant photographer. Attending high school in Vallejo, California, she met and married James Leonard Harper, and they made their home in Pleasant Hill, CA for 50 years.
Nancy received her BA in Anthropology from Mills College in Oakland in 1980. As a teen Nancy worked in her grandfather's photo studio, learning photo storage, retouching and restoration. She started a successful photo retouching business at age 21 working at home while raising 4 children. Her passion for photography led to years of compiling genealogical photos, making and selling beautiful albums, and producing a highly professional plethora of her own photography. She learned drafting skills from her father one post-war winter in Colorado; becoming one of the first female draftspersons in nuclear design at Mare Island, Vallejo. Her drafting skills were applied to home, pool, landscape and other designs, including her beautiful retirement cottage in Benicia. At home she was a creative manager and educator of her four children, a consummate hostess, gourmet cook, and interior decorator. She traveled extensively with her husband Jim and other dear friends. She was a talented artist, expressed in numerous handicrafts, graphic design, theater costume and program design, and also took the stage in various productions. She was a talented singer and pianist, and sang with Sweet Adelines. She was a lifetime jazz aficionado and passed down her interest and talent for music to all her children.
Nancy is survived by her children Robert Harper (Susan), Kim Harper Brooks, Kristin Harper Bush (Robert), and Kelly Harper Walter (Bryan); grandchildren Dennis Harper (Jennifer), Robyn Jennings (Ben), James D Ball (Ella Bernardo), Kaitlin Brooks, Kenneth Walter, Andrew Walter; 5 great-grandchildren; sister Kay Ann Martin, and brother Peter Martin. She is preceded in death by her husband James L Harper, brothers John Thomson Martin and Carl Frederick Martin, and sister Hisae "Kay" Phelps.
A memorial celebration will take place Delta View Golf Course, 2222 Golf Club Rd, Pittsburg, CA, on Saturday, February 18th , at 11AM. Ashes to be interred together with those of her husband James at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, Dixon, CA.
Nancy received her BA in Anthropology from Mills College in Oakland in 1980. As a teen Nancy worked in her grandfather's photo studio, learning photo storage, retouching and restoration. She started a successful photo retouching business at age 21 working at home while raising 4 children. Her passion for photography led to years of compiling genealogical photos, making and selling beautiful albums, and producing a highly professional plethora of her own photography. She learned drafting skills from her father one post-war winter in Colorado; becoming one of the first female draftspersons in nuclear design at Mare Island, Vallejo. Her drafting skills were applied to home, pool, landscape and other designs, including her beautiful retirement cottage in Benicia. At home she was a creative manager and educator of her four children, a consummate hostess, gourmet cook, and interior decorator. She traveled extensively with her husband Jim and other dear friends. She was a talented artist, expressed in numerous handicrafts, graphic design, theater costume and program design, and also took the stage in various productions. She was a talented singer and pianist, and sang with Sweet Adelines. She was a lifetime jazz aficionado and passed down her interest and talent for music to all her children.
Nancy is survived by her children Robert Harper (Susan), Kim Harper Brooks, Kristin Harper Bush (Robert), and Kelly Harper Walter (Bryan); grandchildren Dennis Harper (Jennifer), Robyn Jennings (Ben), James D Ball (Ella Bernardo), Kaitlin Brooks, Kenneth Walter, Andrew Walter; 5 great-grandchildren; sister Kay Ann Martin, and brother Peter Martin. She is preceded in death by her husband James L Harper, brothers John Thomson Martin and Carl Frederick Martin, and sister Hisae "Kay" Phelps.
A memorial celebration will take place Delta View Golf Course, 2222 Golf Club Rd, Pittsburg, CA, on Saturday, February 18th , at 11AM. Ashes to be interred together with those of her husband James at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, Dixon, CA.
