Nancy V Furino
Nancy Furino Obituary
Nancy Valentine Furino passed on October 11, 2020 at St. Luke’s hospital in New Bedford after complication of pneumonia and dementia. She was born in Chicago on November 19, 1928 daughter of Allen Jeffers Burdoin and Bessie Valentine Burdoin. The family moved to Wellesley, MA where Nancy grew up with her parents and was eldest of siblings Tommy, Elizabeth and Allen David. She attended the Museum of Fine Arts school graduating with high honors and earned a two-year fellowship to study art in Italy. There she met, fell in love with and married Domenic “Mimmo” Furino an elite member of the Italian honor guard. The couple then returned to America and resided in Wellesley until buying a home in Framingham, MA where they had two children, Thomas Leonard and Elizabeth Valentine. The family then moved to Sherborn, MA. where Nancy had strong family roots dating back hundreds of years. Her parents had also relocated from Wellesley to Sherborn and lived near-by until moving to FLA to spend their golden years. The family resided there as the children grew up. Nancy, living an idyllic life in a beautiful country town, continued to paint and enjoyed caring for and riding the family’s two horses, gardening and bird watching.
In 1981 the Furino’s moved to Edgartown, MA on Martha’s Vineyard. Here Nancy was immediately at work as an island artist. She was represented by various island galleries and had many showings of her work. She was held in high esteem by the local arts community having many rave reviews by island media. She was invited to join the oil painting division of Audubon Artists (which included famous members such as Salvatore Dali and Andrew Wyeth) and was listed in Who’s Who in American Artists. In 1988 she was featured in American Artist magazine. The Copley Society of Boston, which is the oldest art association in America, awarded her several prizes and welcomed her as a Master artist. She viewed the world with an artist’s eye and believed in “taking it as far as I can” on canvas. She leaves behind a great legacy on those canvases.
She also enjoyed other aspects of island life over the years such as bird watching, sightseeing, trail hiking, canoeing, catching blue crabs and clamming. She enjoyed reading and watching movies, especially old classics. Words can’t express the void she shall leave by those that knew and loved her.
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