10/05/2025
With a heavy heart, I write: Nancy Ayotte, at the age of 95, passed away on Sunday, August 24, 2025, here in Tallahassee.
Nancy started in the time of just radio. She was twelve when her mother passed away, and the following year, her father had to go to war again. She stayed between her Aunt Rose and boarding school until her father returned from Naval duty in the Pacific.
Her first job was in Manhattan, and she lived in the Village district, two blocks from Washington Square, working for Mr. Bitterman. Her maiden name was Sweetman; that's how she got her first job.
She divorced her first husband. Back then, you had to travel to Nevada or Mexico for a divorce. She stayed in Reno, working as a blackjack dealer and a paid shill for the house, for a while.
She travelled to Miami to become the first female commercial HVAC saleswoman in the state of Florida. She performed so well that her boss gave the sales territory in Miami to his girlfriend, while Nancy received the outland of Boca Raton, which was an empty stretch of coastline at the time. She quit and became an operator for the Bell System (Ma Bell).
She was vacationing in Bermuda, where she met our father, Captain Art Ayotte. He was the Master on the Winding Bay, a cargo ship that ran the whole of the Caribbean, including Miami.
Soon married, they had no plans for children because Nancy was infertile. One fateful day on the Palmetto Expressway in Miami, Nancy was in an auto accident, and a month later, to everyone's surprise, she became pregnant!
Settling down in Dade County, Florida, and raising two sons with a husband away at sea for 6 to 11 months at a time. Essentially, she was a single mother raising us by herself and had many different jobs throughout my childhood. She had an interest in jewelry and decided to take a jewelry course at Broward Community College, and soon after, she began her career as a jeweler. We made a casting rig for her in our garage, where we would make all kinds of neat things. I remember we cast scorpions out of silver; we created a gold orchid flower from one of Robert's orchids. During this time, my father became involved with muzzleloaders and the American Mountain Men (AMM). From there, it evolved into the Fugawee Corporation, where Nancy utilized her skills to produce hundreds of event medals and reproductions of historic Buttons for uniforms and civilian clothing. They also sold historical re-enactment shoes and boots.
When Dad passed away in 2007, Mom and Alex ran the Fugawee business together for several years. Alex often brought her grandchildren to work five days a week, as Mom worked from home, so they could spend time together while we worked. Eventually, Alex took over Fugawee while caring for Mom. In 2023, Robert moved in with Mom to be her full-time caregiver. Together with Robert, several wonderful in-home nurses and caregivers, and Alex, we provided her with full-time care at home for last two and a half months. We stayed with her until it became medically impossible for us to continue, and that's when Big Bend Hospice stepped in to help maintain her comfort toward the end. Her struggles are now behind her; her life is complete. It's time to say farewell. She is survived by her two sons, Alex and Robert Ayotte; Alex's wife, Jennifer and two grandchildren, Matthew and Isabella Ayotte.
