Nancy Edith Yudelson, a Flushing, Queens, native who, with her husband, Fred Yudelson, spent much of each year in Montauk, died on Nov. 7 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital after a brief illness. She was 83.
Though their Queens addresses changed over the years, Montauk was a constant for the couple and their children. Ms. Yudelson and her husband bought their first home in Bethpage, then one in Jamaica Estates, followed by Fresh Meadows, Merrick, and Bellmore before moving back to Flushing.
Their Gannet Drive house in Montauk was not only at the center of the family’s lives, it was home to Ms. Yudelson’s ever-changing collection of antiques and curios — most of which she found at yard sales and auctions on the South Fork.
Nearly every year, she and her husband and friends held at least one giant yard sale on Gannet Drive, culling some of her abundant acquisitions. An excellent cook, Ms. Yudelson’s baked goods were often for sale during the sales.
Among Ms. Yudelson’s aspirations as a collector was to acquire a priceless antique at a very low cost, and she came close. Many years after she bought a small painting for $5, she discovered that it was by a well-known Pennsylvania Dutch artist and worth tens of thousands.
She was born Nancy Edith Shore on Sept. 21, 1943, in Queens to Edward Shore and the former Sarah Leibowitz. She attended public school in the borough and then the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. She and Mr. Yudelson, who later became a New York City police officer, married on June 6, 1963.
As a young mother of three sons, she pursued several careers: fabricating and selling jewelry, working in her family’s printing business, and selling real estate.
After Mr. Yudelson retired, the couple spent winters in Florida, initially in Melbourne and later Tampa Bay. Her family said that wherever she was, she had a wide circle of friends and neighborly relations owing to her warm and welcoming manner. During her later years, despite being challenged by her health, she remained optimistic and hopeful, savoring life and grateful to be alive and be with beloved friends and family, they said.
Ms. Yudelson was survived by her husband of 62 years, as well as her sons, David Yudelson and Matthew Yudelson, both of whom live in Montauk, and her youngest child, Jedd Yudelson of Tampa Bay. A brother, David Shore of Glen Cove, survives as well. She had three grandsons, Julius, Kai, and Noah Yudelson, and a granddaughter, Sarah. She leaves one great-grandchild, Liliana.
Ms. Yudelson was buried at Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk on Nov. 11. Her family has suggested memorial donations to the Montauk Historical Society, P.O. Box 868, Montauk 11954.
