GROTON: Nancy (Nightingale) Deffaa, 90, died Sunday at Fairview Nursing Home in Groton.
She was born September 20, 1913 in Manhattan to Edward Lewis and Anna (Menary) Nightingale. She was married to the late Eugene Deffaa, who was employed by Newburgh Park Motors, and had two children, Nancy J. Oates and her husband Peter, in Gales Ferry, CT and Peter Deffaa in Middletown, NY, and two grandchildren, Peter M. Oates and Kate Oates.
Educated in Manhattan, Mrs. Deffaa graduated from Oyster Bay High School. She attended Columbia University Presbyterian School of Nursing, NYU, and Orange County Community College. She was a Red Cross Nurse and taught nurse’s aids and home nursing for the Red Cross during World War II. She also taught Civil Defense. She was a school nurse teacher and a case worker for the department of social services.
Mrs. Deffaa’s volunteer work included teaching Sunday school and serving on the Board of the Yorktown Community Nursery School and Youth Center. (First Nursery School licensed by the Board of Regents in New York State.) She was a leader in both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and had the distinction of being one of the first Brownies in the United States. She participated in a Civil Rights march with Pete Seeger in the late 1960’s.
Mrs. Deffaa was one of the founders of the Country Store in Washingtonville, NY, the Blooming Grove New York Daycare Center and The Red Door in Goshen, NY. She served on the Board of Directors of the Anne Sneed Dean Rehabilitation Center for many years. She was voted a life member of the Parent Teacher Association of New York State and was a member of the Blooming Grove New York Senior Center Quilters. She was an active member of the Blooming Grove United Church of Christ, NY and attended the Ledyard-Gales Ferry Baptist Church, CT.
A Memorial Service for Mrs. Deffaa will be held on July 10 at 4:00pm at the Ledyard-Gales Ferry Baptist Church. A reception will follow. Donations in her memory may be made to the Anne Sneed Dean Rehabilitation Center, c/o INSPIRE, 2 Fletcher St, Goshen NY 10924.