Obituary: Nancy Anne Crawford Condit
Everyone who knew Nancy Condit of Weston, Massachusetts, knew how much she loved children. She devoted her life to them in her home, her work and her volunteer roles. Born in 1936, she grew up in Indianapolis as the eldest of four girls, and her father let her know that he saw her as their leader. Though he died when she was only 13, she carried that charge through life.
She attended Smith College and finished her degree in education at Indiana University. In 1961 she married Edward M. Condit, Jr., a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. He practiced estate law at Herrick & Smith, and later at Rackemann, Sawyer and Brewster. His death in January 2025 shortly preceded hers on April 28, 2025.
She was predeceased by her parents, Leland Crawford and Kathryn Hartle; her sisters, Kathryn Crawford, Jr., Judith Crawford Conze and Carolyn Crawford Hyde. She is survived by her nieces Nichola Conze and Louisa Conze, and her nephew Peter Conze III.
Early on, she suffered a cruel loss when her infant daughter, Anna Condit, died in 1966. Nancy cherished her second daughter, Catherine Olivia Morrow Condit, known as Holly. Holly attended Milton Academy, Connecticut College College and Lesley University, and following her mother’s path of caring for children, she was a child psychologist working with special needs children in the Newton Schools and Walden Hospital. Adding to Nancy’s many losses was Holly’s premature death in 2023.
Professionally, Nancy was a dedicated primary school teacher and her career as a volunteer leader changed the lives of thousands of children. From 1975 to 1977 she served as president of the Boston Junior League which helped found the Gilday Center, the first day care center offering support to parents who might otherwise have had their children removed. She was a board member of Boston Children’s Services, concentrating on adoption and foster care, and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, involved in legislative advocacy and pioneering neo-natal support programs.
A member of the Chilton Club and Vincent Club, Nancy was a wonderful friend; kind, smart, fun, and funny.
When Holly was in grade school, her teacher asked each student to name their parent’s job. Holly described Nancy’s extensive volunteer career, and the teacher said, “But she’s working for nothing…that’s not a job.” Undaunted, Holly said, “My Mommy doesn’t work for ‘nothing’, she works for love!”
