Obituary of Nancy Handelman

Nancy M. Handelman of Lafayette, California died March 18, 2014 at the John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, California. The daughter of George H.and Marcia M. Handelman she was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 8, 1951. She grew up in Troy, New York and graduated from Troy High School and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she received a degree in Aesthetics, Art History and Studio Art. Her junior year was spent at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. She also studied at the Arts League in New York City and at a special summer program at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in painting and sculpture. She worked for a number of years on the East coast and on her own in marketing research. She then moved her own company, Nancy Handelman Qualitative Research to California and successfully advised many major corporations on new products and new projects. She also did many pro bono works for historical venues and civic operations. In addition she opened her own studio in Berkeley, California where she pursued her painting for many years. She exhibited in many shows, particularly on the West coast and had some paintings at United States embassies abroad as part of the State Department program to promote young American artists. Nancy is survived by her mother, Marcia M. Handelman, of Troy, New York, her sister, Louise S. of Princeton, New Jersey, her brother -in- law, Alexander J. Smits of Princeton, New Jersey, a nephew, Peter D. Smits of Chicago, Illinois, a nephew, James Robert Smits of New York, an aunt, Beverly M. Steinberg of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and two cousins, Mark W. Steinberg of Northampton, Massachusetts and Alan J. Steinberg of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was predeceased by her father, George H. Handelman. Nancy has willed her body for medical research to the University of California, San Francisco. Services locally will be private.