Frank Sinatra's First Wife Nancy Sr. Dies At Age 101
July 14 2018, Updated 10:05 p.m. ET
Frank Sinatra's first wife, Nancy Sr., has died at the age of 101, many years after her mega star singer husband.
She had three children with Frank, but he left her in the 1950s for movie siren Ava Gardner.
Nancy Sr.'s daughter, Nancy Sinatra Jr., tweeted that her mother passed away "peacefully" on Friday night, July 13.
"She was a blessing and the light of my life. Godspeed, Momma. Thank you for everything," wrote Nancy Jr., 78, famed for her hit "These Boots are Made for Walking."
Ol' blue eyes died of a heart attack in 1998 at the age of 82 after distinguishing himself as one of the most famous crooners in history—and as an actor in such films as From Here to Eternity.
Frank and Nancy Barbato met as teenagers in Long Branch, New Jersey in the late 1930s. They struck up a romance when young Frank was working as a lifeguard.
In 1939, they married in a church wedding in New Jersey, and Nancy Sr. worked as a secretary to support her husband's budding music career.
Soon, Frank became a household name as Nancy raised their three kids.
But the "Love and Marriage" singer reportedly cheated on his wife with numerous actresses, with sexy screen star Gardner finally upending his marriage.
Frank and Nancy divorced in 1951 and he married Gardner afterwards. Although Gardner, who died in 1990 at age 67, later said he was the love of her life, they had legendary fights and divorced in 1957.
The singer went on to marry actress Mia Farrow and Barbara Marx—his wife 'til his death.
Nancy Sr.'s daughter Nancy Jr. has said her mother, who never remarried, suffered during her divorce from Frank.
"I would hear her crying quietly at night while I was going to sleep," she has said. "She would never show it in front of us, never, but my room was next to hers and I would tiptoe out and I'd listen at the door and she'd be crying. Sometimes I would go in to her and just put my arms around her."
Nancy Sr. got a divorce settlement that included a percentage of Frank's income, their home, custody of their children and a Cadillac.
The Sinatra family rock was shattered when her son Frank Sinatra Jr. died of cardiac arrest in 2016 while on a singing tour in Florida.
Nancy Sr. also had another daughter, Tina, 70, who survives her.
According to her daughter Nancy Jr., her mother devoted her life to charity and her family.
Sinatra follower Gay Talese said Nancy Sr. remained friendly with her ex-husband, even making him pasta and other Italian food dishes over the years.
“There is no bitterness, only great respect and affection between Sinatra and his first wife,” Talese wrote in 1966, “and he has long been welcome in her home and has even been known to wander in at odd hours, stoke the fire, lie on the sofa, and fall asleep.”
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