Miss Nellie Deans Greaves, donor of Rosewell Ruins, dies at 93 yrs

Nellie, a resident of Gloucester, died on May 23, 2018

after 3 years of special care at the Sanders Heron Cove. Along with the staff at

Heron Cove, gratitude cannot be expressed enough for all the loving care and

joys Kelly Millen gave Nellie as her companion care giver these past three years.

Kelly made Nellie's life socially and esthetically rich, interesting, and delightful as

could be.

Born in Ft. Monroe where her father army Captain G. Alban Greaves was

assigned, she was under three when her mother, Ellen Deans Taylor Greaves,

34, died of throat cancer. Raised for three years by her aunt Elizabeth (Greaves)

Page and her uncle Cecil W. Page of Gloucester, Nellie learned to love animals

and country living. When her father remarried and was assigned to Panama, she

also learned to love languages and travel. Her stepmother Elizabeth (Maclean)

Greaves kindly encouraged her to learn all she could about her biological mother

Ellen (also "Nellie"), who was born in 1893 to Judge Fielding Lewis Taylor and

Ellen Yeatman Deans in their Rosewell home.

Nellie followed in her mother's footsteps, attending the all-girls' prep school

Hannah More Academy, studying French, literature, history and the arts. Nellie

went on to graduate from William and Mary College in 1945. Following an several

years of an editorial career with the United Nations in France and later with Time

Magazine in Washington DC, Nellie made a determined effort to preserve or

protect the ruins of Rosewell. In 1979, after years of contacting federal, state and

local officials and experts in history, archeology and architecture, she and her

brother, Lt. Col. Fielding L. Greaves, were finally were able to gift an 8.8 acre

parcel of mansion ruins, ice house and cemetery to the Gloucester Historical

Society. Living in Alexandria, VA. most of her adult years, she cared for her

parents in their final years while frequenting Gloucester to manage the family

lands, Mimosa, Rosewell and Belle Farm. Nellie moved back to Gloucester in

2007.

Both a proud Daughters of the American Revolution and United Daughters of the

Confederacy member, her forebears include the Taylor, Lewis, Warners, Deans

and Carter families of Gloucester. She was a modest Christian egalitarian,

whose welcoming smile warmed the hearts of many people over the years. An

insatiable reader, she also enjoyed leading or serving on church committees and

garden clubs. Nellie has been a member of Episcopal and Anglican Churches in

Gloucester and Alexandria. . She leaves behind her sister-in-law Jean Greaves, nephews James Greaves

and Steven Greaves, their wives and children. Also her cousin Elizabeth (Betsy)

Aldrich and her son John Aldrich, her daughter Dr. Elizabeth Rouse, her spouse,

children and pets, and other extended family and friends.

Andrews Funeral Home & Crematory made arrangements for Nellie following her death.

A memorial is planned for Saturday June 23rd, 2:00 p.m. at St. James Anglican

Church.