SCARBOROUGH – Nancy Whipple Lord died peacefully on June 9, 2020 after a long bout with Alzheimer’s disease. She was born in Syracuse, N.Y., the daughter of Howard B. Whipple and his wife Flora, of Portland. The family moved back to Maine and Nancy was a student in the South Portland public schools, busy during her high school years as a cheerleader and class secretary. She was a professional ballroom dancer with her older brother, Bryant H. Whipple, performing at the State Theatre and other venues. After graduation, she enrolled at the Portland School of Fine and Applied Art, now MECA, polishing her visual art talents.In 1948, she married Russell Edison Lord, and moved to Farmington where Russ was manager of the Foster Avery men’s haberdashery. She opened the Nancy Lord School of the Dance, which became a popular and successful dancing school for the surrounding region, complete with large-scale recitals every year in the Farmington Civic Center.In 1955, the family moved to Falmouth, where Nancy was a partner with her mother, Flora Hall Whipple, at the Olde Gothic House antiques shop in Portland. In 1964 the family moved to Topsfield, Mass., where pursuing her love of interior decoration, Nancy began a successful house-flipping business, long before the trend emerged.After Russ retired, they moved back to Portland, and with her daughter and family opened the Seamen’s Club restaurant in 1973, one of the first restaurants in Portland’s Old Port revitalization. She was renowned for her homemade baked beans, delicious apple pies, and her ever-charming smile greeting diners as the vivacious hostess. The restaurant was sold in 1985, and she retired to a beautiful farm in Scarborough. She is survived by her daughter, Jil Eaton, son-in-law, David Eaton; grandson, Alexander Eaton, his wife Julianna Orgel-Eaton; great-granddaughter, Esme Eaton; as well as her nieces, Deborah Grant, Victoria Smith, Nancy Sick, and Meredith Smith, and her nephew, Bryant H. Whipple Jr. The family is truly grateful to Debbie Aceto, who was her hairdresser, caregiver and dear friend for decades, for Scarborough Terrace Assisted Living, where she lived for her final years and received exemplary care, and for Beacon Hospice, who gave her wonderful care during her last months. Please visit http://www.advantageportland.com to sign Nancy’s guestbook and leave memories and condolences for the family. Donations may be made to the Maine Alzheimer’s Association in lieu of flowers.www.alz.org/maine

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