WHITE STONE—Nancy Carolyn Griffin Sledd of White Stone passed away Tuesday, November 14, in Richmond, following a year-long battle with cancer. She was 68.
The daughter of retired U.S. Navy Capt. Charles Daniel Griffin and Mary Frances Gilliam Griffin, she is survived by her husband of 40 years, Hunter C. Sledd III and a vast extended family including mother-in-law; brothers and sisters-in-law; nieces; nephews; grand nieces and nephews, including one born Tuesday; cousins; and others.
Born in Whittier, Calif., she had a very mobile childhood due to her father’s Naval career. She grew up in a variety of places on both coasts and Naples and Rome, in Italy, though Southern California served as home base whenever her father was at sea. This early mobility gave her a love of travel, which she pursued over the years, allowing her to see a great deal of the world.
After graduation from Roanoke College in 1971, she relocated to Richmond, where she met her future husband. They married in 1977. Following a career in data processing, she elected to pursue her artistic passions, forming Sledd-Winger Glassworks with fellow glass artist, Mary Lu Winger. She and Mary Lu received national acclaim and multiple awards for their stained glass art, a talent she continued to nurture and refine.
She and Hunter relocated to White Stone in 2007. There she was active in COWs and a founding member of Northern Neck Partners for Pets in an effort to develop an animal shelter for the area. Her lifelong passion for animals and the natural world is evident in the habitat she created at their home in White Stone, where birds, butterflies and other creatures abound.
She had a sparkling personality and was an easy conversationalist, often getting off an airplane with the life history of whoever was sitting next to her and an invitation to their home.
A celebration of her life is planned for January in White Stone. For those who would like to honor her memory, please consider a contribution to Northern Neck Partners for Pets at NNPP, P. O. Box 361, Irvington, VA 22480 or through their website at northernneckpartnersforpets.org.
