Nancy Bowker Holt

Nancy Bowker (Jenest) Holt, age 73, passed away at home on March 13 surrounded by family.

As the only child of the late Homer Clayton and Marjorie Eleanor (Bowker) Jenest of Rumford, RI, Nancy is survived by her husband of 49 years, Dean Barden Holt, and their two children, Dean Barden Holt II of Tiverton, and Ashley Bowker Holt of Providence.

Nancy's vibrant energy characterized every chapter of her life. Making friends, enriching the community, and creative expression were always natural impulses for her. Nancy remembered her time as a Rainbow Girl fondly, where she learned lessons of civics and service with her young friends. As a teenager, she organized plays performed in her parents' basement, eagerly engaging family and neighbors and in the process. As a young adult, Nancy's voice was well-known to her classmates of East Providence High School, figuratively--and literally!--as a spirited cheerleader. Nancy's bright manner and contagious laugh were hard to miss as a student at URI. It was always with a glint of mischief in her eye when she shared stories of the good-natured pranks she pulled with her Chi Omega sorority sisters. Striking, determined, and talented, she also earned a place on URI's dance team, the Ramettes, performing their choreography with proud enthusiasm and anchoring kick-lines surely envied by any Rockette! The venues may have changed over time, but her raucous rallying spirit never dimmed (as anyone within earshot of her armchair participation in March Madness, Wimbledon or the Patriots will attest). Legend has it that she even endured twelve-degree weather--with glee--to behold her beloved Tom Brady while attending a Patriots game on her 70th birthday.

The story goes that Nancy graduated on a Saturday, and started work on Monday. Switching majors at the last minute from Art History to English enabled the beginning of her seven-year career as a primary grades teacher at Nayatt School in Barrington. When Nancy and Dean married in 1972, she ensured there was a special reception line for her students, bending down to accept with a gentle handshake the practiced congratulations of each of her wide-eyed admirers in their short suits and patent leather shoes.

Nancy's roots of service and commitment to the RI community expanded in new directions with the birth of her two children in 1977 and 1980. After co-founding the Women & Infants Hospital Friends of the Special Care Nursery, Nancy was soon further distinguished when appointed by the Board of Trustees to the hospital's Community Advisory Committee. Commitments to various civics groups within the Town of Barrington followed, notably, appointment to the first Juvenile Hearing Board in the state of Rhode Island. Over the thirty-plus years she lived in Barrington, Nancy's volunteerism continued to be prolific and impactful. New environmental stewardship projects began to take shape with groups like BarZap, the Audubon Society, and the Environmental Clubs of Barrington Middle and High School. Whether discussing bylaws in a tiny meeting room in the library, convincing the DPW to collaborate on a public garden, or rolling her sleeves up to show teenagers where to dig a hole, Nancy was planting seeds that would be nurtured by the community as they grew.

Equipped with the Master Gardener certification she earned from URI, Nancy began Les Jardin Garden Design, an entrepreneurial outlet suited to the fullest expression of her many talents. Ever the teacher, there was no escaping a fuller horticultural education as Nancy brought all of her customers (and family!) into the folds of her projects. Her handiwork ranged in scale from great to small, from residential to commercial, from Warren to Westport, each project treated with Nancy's trademark care and attention long after its installation, truly her personal gift to every passerby.

Moving to the condominium community Villages on Mount Hope Bay in Tiverton in 2005, Nancy served as the first chair of the Villages' Landscape Committee for nearly a decade, bringing her depth of experience to bear on an earthly palette still in progress, connecting developers and committed resident volunteers to fortify and sophisticate their surroundings. The new landscape of Tiverton called upon her unwavering eye for design in other ways too as Nancy energized with renewed focus her long-time practice of photography. Many enjoyed her signature sunset submissions to Channel 10 weather segments and appreciated her online photography postings.

Whether you knew her as a classmate, teacher, advisor, designer, volunteer, neighbor, kindred spirit, friend, or maybe just "Mom" in the case of two lucky kids, you will remember the joie de vivre found in all of Nancy's pursuits. She left the world more beautiful than she found it by doing what came naturally to her. Her flowering landscape designs, gifted photography works, cleaned coastlines, rescued creatures, enriched students, and dearly loved host of grateful family and friends are her enduring legacy. She is already sorely missed.

Calling hours will be held at the Villages on Mount Hope Bay clubhouse, 120 Schooner Drive, Tiverton, RI on March 25 between 5 and 7pm. Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on March 26 at the Redwood Chapel, Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Blvd, Providence, RI with graveside services to follow. COVID guidelines govern all related functions.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Appalachian Bear Rescue, P.O. Box 364, Townsend, TN 37882, whose work Nancy lovingly supported, or to the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, 5526 West 13400 South #510, Herriman, UT 84096, whose research efforts seek answers for others diagnosed with bile duct cancer.