Our family mourns the loss of our beloved matriarch, Nancy Marnellos, who passed away on October 29, 2025.
Nancy was born on April 7, 1944, in Forest Hills, N.Y., to Walter and Sheila (O’Leary) Scharf. When Nancy was a teenager, the family moved to Ridgewood, N.J., where she graduated from Saint Luke’s High School. She went on to receive a BS in chemistry from Rosemont College and later a master’s in social work from Fordham University.
Nancy dedicated her whole life to helping countless people through her social work and hypnotherapy. Nancy was also instrumental in founding the Federally Qualified Health Center in Addison County, Vt. She served on that board for over a decade.
Nancy lived her life with the mission of helping others, always leading with compassion and love. She was a source of wisdom and comfort to her countless friends and cherished family, to whom she was always eager to offer support. She found meditation in her thirties. Her practice deepened her connection to herself, loved ones and the natural world. It was a lifelong resource and refuge for her. Nancy enthusiastically embraced all aspects of life. She saw the beauty in every person and everything. Nancy was deeply connected to nature, from the beaches of Hawaii to the Green Mountains of Vermont.
Nancy was predeceased by her parents, Sheila and Walter Scharf; her half-siblings, George (Junie), Brad and Ann. She is survived by her daughters, Christina and Cori Marnellos (Joseph Bowling); her beloved granddaughter, Alexis Marnellos; her brother, Dan Scharf (Joanne); sister, Tina Scharf (Jamie Dolan); and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
We would like to thank University of Vermont Cardiology, especially her longtime cardiologist, Mark Tischler, who respected her health care decisions. We would also like to thank UVM Home Health & Hospice, especially her nurses Chelsea and Haley, for their incredible care and support.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to UVM Home Health & Hospice.
A celebration of Nancy’s life will be held in the spring and announced at a later date.
This article appears in The Winter Preview Issue 2025.
This obituary fits Nancy to a “T”. She was full of Wisdom and always an Inspiration to me. Nancy was an old , loyal and wonderful friend. Her spirituality and outlook on life was always welcome and helped me deal with some of difficult paths we find ourselves on at times. Nancy was about Love and Beauty, and had a Amazing sense of Who she was. She loved her family, especially her girls and granddaughter and saw them as special gifts.
I will miss her dearly , will always be grateful for her friendship.
Margaret Murtha
Nancy’s wisdom, compassion, love, deep spirit, huge caring heart and expansive insights for living a full life will be dearly missed by her adoring family and former clients including me. I will be forever thankful for the myriad ways she helped me discover and connect to my kinder, gentler, more loving “self”. Many thanks, Nancy, for seeing the beauty in me that I struggled to see in myself.
Nancy was a rare human being, filled with light. She was a gift and she changed my life. My condolences to her entire family.
Nancy. My best friend and confidant
Do not stand at my grace and weep
I am not there ; I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn’s rain
Do not stand at my grave and mourn
I am the dew -flecked grass at dawn
Where tranquil oceans meet the land
I am the footprints in the sand
To guide you through the weary day
I am still here ; I will always stay.
When you wake up to the morning’s rush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there; I did not die
By. Clare Harner; Mary Elizabeth Frye (1905-2004
Rest in peace my very dear friend. I will carry your laugh with me always You will never be forgotten because you meant so much to many. Love and peace. My dear friend