NANCY MCKINNEY MCNEIL passed away peacefully, of natural causes, at her home in Wyndmoor. Mrs. McNeil was predeceased by her husband of 56 years, Robert Lincoln McNeil, Jr. in 2010 and is survived by her four children, Collin Farquhar McNeil (Nia), Victoria McNeil Le Vine (Chris), Joanna McNeil Lewis, Robert Lincoln McNeil III (Jane) and eleven grandchildren. A statuesque, former fashion model, Mrs. McNeil was known for her classic style, devilish sense of humor, and her extensive philanthropic endeavors. She shared a joy of collecting Americana with her husband Bob, particularly focusing on Philadelphia furniture, paintings, silver and Presidential china. The lions share of this collection, dating from the mid 18th to early 19th century, is now a lynchpin of the recently installed Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Galleries of Early American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She was very artistic in her own right, designing custom intricate hand rendered family Christmas Cards every year, and, later in life, fashioning colorful Christmas ornaments, made out of egg cartons, in her third floor "studio". In the 1960s, the infant American Contemporary craft movement attracted McNeil's interest. Inspired, she began to assemble a collection, in all media, but especially fiber, and became a force in promoting this new artistic movement. In 1977, McNeil co-founded the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show which, through the years, raised upwards of $14 million for the benefit of the Museum and its Craft programming. This ultimately resulted in a permanent exhibit at PMA to highlight American Crafts, partially housing 91 works of art collected by Mrs. McNeil. Her championing of American Crafts resulted in being named to the Board of the American Craft Council and led to her receiving the Aileen Osborn Webb Award for Philanthropy in 2012, the Craft Council's highest honor. The Philadelphia Zoo was another passion. For many years she was an ardent volunteer on the Zoobilee Committees. She loved the Zoo, but especially its holdings of exotic birds, and as a result of this fascination, the key funding, for both incarnations of Avian Centers, was contributed to provide the birds with a renovated facility and, ultimately a completely rebuilt, state of the art, birdhouse. This seemingly quirky devotion to feathered friends displayed many sides of her personality. She loved animals, especially her beloved poodles, Martini and Misty. She was an expert at silliness, and she was always quick to imbue any family gathering with her joy of togetherness. At the time of America's Bicentennial Commemoration, Mrs. McNeil and her husband were invited to join the Friends of American Art in Religion, an ambitious nonsectarian group of collectors and supporters dedicated to promoting American religious art through the Vatican museum. This collaboration satisfied Mrs. McNeil's love of her nation's art and her incredible zeal for travel. Annual exhibitions of American works at the Vatican Museum were obligatory motivations to travel to Rome. These sojourns stimulated an abiding love of Italian culture that moved her to undertake Italian lessons and to request that her Grandmother's appellation, henceforth, should be 'Nonna'. In the course of these "Roman" holidays, a longstanding relationship with one of the Committee's host families resulted in an abiding and special friendship that remains strong to this day. Besides her travels, McNeil was extremely proud of her family history and was a Sixth Generation Daughter of the American Revolution and a member of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America - Pennsylvania chapter. One of six children, and the last surviving child of Dr. And Mrs. Walter B. McKinney, Nancy McNeil graduated, a year early, from Germantown Friends School of Philadelphia and was a 1945 graduate of Bradford Junior College in Massachusetts. Following college, she was briefly married to H. Farquhar Jones, before his death from extreme anemia, in 1951. Mrs. McNeil will be laid to rest, next to her beloved husband Robert, in a private Graveside Service, at West Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Bala Cynwyd, PA. A Celebration of Life is planned for later this year. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to "The Nancy M. McNeil Fund for Contemporary Craft of The Philadelphia Museum of Art", in honor of the Philadelphia Craft Show. https://www.philamuseum.org/?keyword=InMemoryOf