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- Fort Worth Business Press, Texas, Friday, 15 March 2013
Love affair between Nancy Lee Bass and Fort Worth
Perry Richardson Bass and Nancy Lee Bass
She loved Fort Worth and its citizens loved her back.
Nancy Lee Bass showered the city with gifts and good deeds over her lifetime.
Her legacy, co-shared with her late husband Perry Richardson Bass, endures and, indeed, grows with her four sons.
Nancy Bass passed away on February 28 at age 95. At noon, March 7, on what would have been her 96th birthday, one of the tower bells of First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth tolled 96 times in her honor. She and Perry gifted the church bells two decades ago.
"Nancy Lee Bass and her family have contributed so much to our community in so many ways," says Tim Bruster, the church's senior pastor. "Their gifts to our city have done much to make Fort Worth a great place to live, play and worship. Because of their generosity, each of our Sunday morning sanctuary worship services begins and ends with the pealing of these bells, and throughout the day, every day, we ring the Westminster chimes."
Nancy Lee Bass joined the church on April 12, 1925. She and Perry exchanged wedding vows there and were married for 65 years.
Perry Bass, nephew and heir to the oil fortune of famed Fort Worth wildcatter Sid Richardson, died in 2006 at age 91. Over the years, Nancy Lee and Perry played host to five U.S. presidents.
They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1991 by gifting $50 million to institutions dear to their hearts, from Yale University to Lena Pope Home to First United Methodist Church.
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra performed a memorial concert for this beloved Fort Worth philanthropist in the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in downtown Fort Worth on Saturday, March 16.
"The people who visit Bass Hall in the years to follow, should take note of the picture of Nancy Lee and Perry Bass and think of their generosity and the generosity of their family, which helped to make Fort Worth one of the finest cities in the nation," says friend and family attorney, Dee J. Kelly. "Nancy Lee was always the beautiful star of this all-star family. She lived a wonderful life full of happiness and accomplishment. All of us who knew her were thankful we had a chance to know this remarkable lady."
Nancy Lee Muse Bass was born on March 7, 1917, the daughter of Ewell Henderson Muse and Roberta Maddox Muse in Fort Worth. She graduated from Central High School in Fort Worth, and received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Texas at Austin in 1937.
Lifelong friend, Anna Melissa Gordon, 94, recalls Nancy Lee as a child. Gordon also attended Central High School and the University of Texas. "She was always a ladylike person, always considerate, and a very good friend," Gordon says. "I can't ever remember one word of criticism about Nancy Lee. In our era, everybody knew everybody, and I feel fortunate to have known her. She was a very gracious lady, and she will be missed."
Perry and Nancy Lee met at a spring dance at the Ridotto Club, a men's dance club in Fort Worth. Their first son, Sid Richardson Bass, was born in 1942. Edward Perry Bass followed in 1945, and the family moved to a small home on Pembroke Drive. In 1948, a third son, Robert Muse Bass, was born. They bought land near Kay Kimbell's Westover Hills estate and two years later, they began construction on their Georgian-style home. In 1956, son number four, Lee Marshall Bass was born.
President and chair of the board of directors of the Kimbell Art Foundation Kay Fortson said Nancy Lee Bass was a mentor to many along the way.
"Nancy Lee was the first lady of Fort Worth; she was the matriarch and the mother not only to her family, but to all of Fort Worth," she said.
The four Bass brothers have made and continue to make enduring contributions to their community ? from the redevelopment of Lancaster Avenue, the expansion of the Fort Worth Zoo, the renaissance and revitalization that became Sundance Square, and the merging of Fort Worth Children's Hospital with Cook Children's.
When son Ed turned 50 in 1995, he donated $6 million toward medicine, the arts and culture. He also was the force behind the Bass Performance Hall, the $65 million arts center and namesake of his parents. Legendary Fort Worth concert pianist Van Cliburn suggested the name for the Hall. Cliburn passed away at age 78 of bone cancer, on February 27.
Said community leader and friend, Jean Roach: "The most excited I every saw Nancy Lee was at the ground breaking of the Performance Hall."
Close friend Vivienne Wilson met Nancy Lee and Perry on the day of their wedding, and visited with Nancy Lee often in her last months of life. "After the wedding, they changed clothes at my parent's house," Wilson recalls. "Fifteen years later, we had babies at the same time. My husband and I had wonderful trips with them to their island home . . . What a sweet, sweet person. She was just a wonderful friend, very thoughtful and generous with everyone. She had a ready ear to listen. Nancy Lee was always there for me."
As a mother, Nancy Lee was hands-on, Wilson says. "When the boys were young, her priorities were taking care of the home and her children."
Nancy Lee set high standards for her boys and introduced them about the world through travel, Wilson says.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said of Bass: "She was one of Fort Worth's true treasures. She left an indelible mark in the community as a compassionate leader and as a mother of four boys who would become instrumental in defining Fort Worth's reputation as one of the greatest cities in the world."
Nancy Lee Bass was known for her lifelong community involvement and philanthropic support of the arts, education, human services and healthcare. She served for three decades as a vice president and a director of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Active as a volunteer in numerous organizations, boards on which she served include: the Smithsonian Institution National Council; the Collectors Committee of the National Gallery of Art; the University of Texas at Austin Development Board; the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; and the advisory board of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition, Fort Worth.
Also in Fort Worth, she was a member of the Junior League, the Jewel Charity Ball, past president of The Assembly and a member of the Fort Worth Garden Club. She received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Texas Ex-Students Association, and the Golden Deeds Award from the Exchange Club of Fort Worth.
Former Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief describes Bass as the epitome of elegance and grace. "She avoided the spotlight and chose instead to let her benevolence and her heart do the talking. Rosie and I, along with the rest of the Fort Worth family, will miss our first lady of this great city."
Fort Worth Science and History Museum President Van Romans says that Nancy Bass had a deep and loyal appreciation for her community and the museum.
"When Ed brought her to tour the new facility just prior to its opening in November 2009, it was a special time, as we had named the new museum's school building for her," Romans said. "She seemed very excited to see the new museum and to know that her leadership as the first Guild president in 1950 was still important 60 years later. Her eyes lit up as she entered the new classrooms. For every child that attended or who will attend museum school in the Nancy Lee Schoolhouse at the Museum of Science and History, her influence will be felt in their lives. Proudly, her name adorns the school that is important to so many of us in Fort Worth."
She was the first recipient of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame Gloria Lupton Tennison Pioneer Award. "The award is for women who do extraordinary things and lead by example and really make a difference," says Kit Moncrief, Tennison's daughter and president of the museum's board of directors.
Pat Riley, the museum's executive director said that one of the greatest honors the museum ever received was being able to name the building in tribute to Nancy Bass, and to be a part of her legacy. "Her ability to make each person she was talking with feel special was a true reflection of her graciousness," Riley says. "Her kindness and generosity were unparalleled."
Her sons paid tribute to her in an official statement: "Our mother passed away peacefully in her home, seven days shy of her 96th birthday. Her life spanned 10 decades of exceptional love, affection and joy. We were blessed to have shared in such a long and rich life, and we know she would want us to express to all our friends her gratitude for their friendship to her family over the years."
Nancy Lee also leaves a legacy of 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1917 - 2013 (96 years)
d. 1 Jun 2006, Westover Hills, Tarrant County, Texas