Nancy Bellin Waldman

Nancy Bellin Waldman, 75, art collector and community activist, died of cancer Dec. 7, 2011, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Born Jan. 20, 1936, in Albany, N.Y., she was the daughter of Mildred Grosberg Bellin, author of The Jewish Cook Book, and Dr. Harold Bellin, a surgeon and general practitioner.

She attended the Milne School in Albany, then went to Smith College, where she earned an honors degree in psychology and was a member of the honorary science society Sigma Xi.

Immediately after her graduation in 1957, she married Gilbert Waldman of Albany, and the couple relocated to Tulsa, Okla., to join Gilbert's father in a new business. She taught high school science for two years at the Holland Hall School in Tulsa, then "retired" at age 23 to become the mother of two sons.

In 1986, Gil and Nancy established a winter home in Scottsdale; they added a summer home in Santa Fe in 1989. Nancy joined the Arizona Costume Institute of Phoenix Art Museum, where her organizational skills were quickly recognized and she was chosen to be president 1991 to 1993. She served on the board of trustees of the museum 1997 to 2000 and had maintained her membership on the collections committee since then.

She was proud to have been the first volunteer to catalog the Native American rugs at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa. Nancy was an accomplished self-taught clothing designer and seamstress, and enjoyed sewing many of her own beautiful outfits.