Nancy Pardue Scheerer, who grew up in East Hampton and summered on West End Road in the village from childhood until 2023, died on Oct. 31 in Duxbury, Mass. She was 96.
In addition to East Hampton, Mrs. Scheerer lived in Essex Fells, N.J. She served on the board of directors of Offender Aid and Restoration, which partners with courts to offer community service as a form of alternative sentencing, allowing people to stay with their families and continue working or going to school, avoiding the lifelong burdens and consequences of incarceration. The organization honored her with its Humanitarian Award in 2005. She also served on the Essex Fells zoning board.
Nancy Pardue was born on June 18, 1929, in Hibbing, Minn., to the Rev. H. Austin Pardue and Dorothy K. Pardue. Her father was the fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.
She attended Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Conn., before going on to the Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William and Mary, now known as Virginia Commonwealth University, where she earned a bachelor's degree, and the School of Drama at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, now known as Carnegie Mellon University.
For several years in the 1950s, Mrs. Scheerer was the director of occupational therapy at Gracie Square Hospital in Manhattan.
She and Joseph D. Scheerer Jr. were married on June 27, 1959. Mr. Scheerer died in 2019, days shy of the couple's 60th anniversary.
An arts enthusiast, she enjoyed ceramics, acrylic and watercolor painting, sculpture, and calligraphy, and she played tennis and other racket sports.
Mrs. Scheerer is survived by two children, Hillary L. Scheerer of New York City and Springs and Daniel A. Scheerer of Jaffrey, N.H., and Duxbury. Four grandchildren and a great-grandchild also survive, as does a nephew, David Pardue.
Details of a service are to be announced. Mrs. Scheerer's family has suggested memorial contributions to Crossroads, which offers overnight summer camps and year-round leadership programs to children from the greater Boston area, at Crossroads, attn: Development, 119 Myrtle Street, Duxbury, Mass. 02332-2903, or crossroadsma.org.
