Nancy Alterman

Nancy Alterman, 96, passed away peacefully, May 29, 2024. Nancy, always the explorer with a true adventurous spirit had a life well lived. She was born August 22, 1927 in Fakenham, in her beloved England. She spent her teen years surviving the “blitz” and World War II, helping the English effort in every way she could as a schoolgirl. As England moved into the cold war, she met her future husband, Robert, a US Air Force officer stationed at RAF Sculthorpe, by answering an ad he had posted in the local Fakenham pub for a navigator for motoring in the famous English countryside road rallies. They were quite a successful duo as exemplified by the many pictures around their house of their sports car stuck in a ditch!

Shortly after marrying one New Year’s Eve in England, Robert was reassigned back to the USA and Nancy decided to take the scenic route to the US, rather than Air Force transport, and crossed the pond on the ocean liner SS United States, the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic and a subsequent drive across the US in their British convertible sports car, with the top down all the way.

Her adventurous spirit led her down many paths while raising her two children. She immersed herself and excelled in many different artistic endeavors, from painting to stained glass to most forms of textile arts and crafts among her artistic interests.

Nancy wanted to bring her spirit of exploration and adventure to young minds, not only her own children, but took on the role of Girl Scout Troop Leader for several years engaging them in as many new experiences as she could with them.

Robert and Nancy’s own wanderlust took them to many corners of the world, from climbing Machu Picchu, to sailing down the Nile River and exploring the pyramids, visiting Petra, motoring around Europe, visiting the bazaars of Morocco and Istanbul and the markets of southeast Asia, among their many journeys.

They both loved to entertain, whether that took the form of holiday parties, tailgating at the UCLA football games, hosting Kentucky Derby parties, Nancy loved horse racing, including making the trip to Kentucky to attend the 1999 Kentucky Derby. But, perhaps her favorite gathering was the many traditional English Teas she was famous for hosting.

She always loved to have pieces of her English upbringing around her and one of her biggest pride and joys was her English garden that she was always puttering around in and exhibiting.

She is survived by her greatest joys in life, her children and their spouses, Diane Alterman and Curtice Wong and James Alterman and Cheryl Balkenhol, her grandchildren, Robert Alterman II and Calie Alterman and her most recent rays of sun, her great-grandchildren, Henry Alterman and Simona Alterman.

She loved life and lived it well!