Nancy O'Neil, 93, historic preservation expert

Nancy O'Neil, a longtime member of the historical society of New Castle, NY and an expert on historic preservation, died of heart failure at her home in Riverwoods on March 20 at the age of 93.

Always curious, a voracious reader all her life, Nancy was a mother of 6, grandmother of 13 and great-grandmother of 3. Motherhood postponed her educational ambitions, but she began taking classes in her 30s and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in child psychology from Sarah Lawrence College in 1970 when she was 38. She went on to earn a master’s degree in historic preservation from Columbia University and led renovations of landmark properties in Hartford and Simsbury, CT with her husband, C. Roderick O’Neil.

In 2018, an article in Hartford Magazine described them as “a couple who were instrumental in Hartford’s revival.” But her family remembers Nancy best as a witty and loving Nonna who shared her passion for books with three generations -- with everyone she met, really. At the time of her death she was reading “Cod,” a history by Mark Kurlansky that had been a Christmas present from a grandchild.

Nancy O’Neil was born on Sept. 27, 1931 in Chicago. Her father, Anthony Galante, was an immigrant from Calabria, Italy who became a police officer in Glencoe, Illinois, where he also owned a landscaping business. Her mother, Emilie Odstrcil, had emigrated from what is now the Czech Republic.

She and Rory, as her husband was known, were married in 1952. They had six children – Brian, Sarah, Tim, Kevin, John and Anne – and lived in Highland Park, Illinois, before moving to Chappaqua, NY in 1965.

Nancy’s interest in historic preservation began with their Chappaqua house, which consisted of two 18th-century farmhouses that had been combined with a “modern” addition in the late 1800s. That interest grew in the mid-1970s, when Rory took a job with Travelers Insurance in Hartford and the couple decided to renovate a row house in the city’s downtown rather than move to the suburbs. Together they restored a landmark but derelict home on Charter Oak Place in Hartford and the 1820 Simsbury House, which they turned into an inn. Nancy was a longtime board member of the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, and supported her husband in his work as a founder of Riverfront Recapture, which developed parks on the Connecticut River.

She was an active member of the New Castle Historical Society for many years. An exhibit on mail-order houses from Sears that she co-curated was covered by The New York Times in 2008. After moving to the Riverwoods development in New Castle in 2013, she researched and wrote a history of the property. She was also a familiar figure on its roads, as she walked a 1.1-mile course, up hills and down, on most days well into her late 80s, and took shorter walks almost up until her death.

Nancy is survived by five of her children. Her husband died in 2012 and her son Tim died in 2022.

A memorial service will be held on June 14 at 11 am at the Hotel MTK in Mount Kisco. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center at Columbia University or to the Nancy O’Neil Fund for the Preservation of the Mark Twain House.