Many of you may have noticed the vase of beautiful of yellow roses that now grace the front desk. They were placed there by longtime volunteers Jim and Catherine Carney, in memory of Nancy Dunk, who passed away suddenly over the holidays.

Yellow roses signify friendship, but it's even more appropriate that the roses were placed at the desk where Nancy greeted visitors nearly every other Saturday, her work schedule since 1992. Nancy worked largely by herself, rarely missing a day of work except on rare occasions when she had a special event to go to (the annual "Chester County Day" was one such occasion).

Her death, at the age of 82, was a shock, especially for a woman who survived cancer twice, said her daughter, Meredith Golia. A memorial service was held for Nancy at 11:30 a.m. February 2nd at the Advent Lutheran Church, 1601 Green Lane in West Chester.

According to her daughter, Nancy was brought to the hospital on Christmas Eve. She survived surgery for an intestinal blockage but died from double pneumonia.

At CCAA, Nancy was such a familiar figure, it was only recently that someone thought to ask how she came to know the art center. Nancy recalled that she joined the CCAA staff to help her recover from the loss of her husband, Charles Dunk, a former accountant with E.I. DuPont. "I was thrilled when I realized that I would be paid," Nancy said of her job in an interview that was planned for an upcoming newsletter.

Among her Saturday jobs, Nancy worked on mailings or performing the delicate task of checking out artwork following an exhibit (the job of telling artists that their work was not accepted was especially a diplomatic one) "She loved meeting all the artists," said Golia, who recalled that her mother was known for her consideration to others and for putting others first. "Everyone had an endearing nickname," Golia said..

A native of the Roxborough section of Philadelphia, Nancy summered in Ocean City, New Jersey and was a resident of West Chester for forty-seven years. In addition to her daughter, she had son, E. Harlan Dunk of Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made in memory of Nancy's grandchild, who died on Sept. 28, 2006 at the age of 29. The address is Duncan T. Golia, c/o St. John Lutheran Church, 1001 Central Ave. Ocean City, NJ, 08226