chicagotribune.com

Nancy E. Klimley, who blithely brought the era of couture hats and white gloves into the 21st Century, was, said her son, Brooks, "one of the few people in the world who knew where all [the] fish forks go."

A socialite whose parties raised millions of dollars for arts and social services in Chicago, Mrs. Klimley, 83, died of natural causes Thursday, March 6, at her Lakeview home, her son said.

Fond of flowers, fashion and dance floors backed by a swinging society band, Mrs. Klimley threw meticulously planned galas for the city's elite, who paid handsomely for a night of fun on behalf of a worthy cause.

"She did it as a career. The fundraising thing was her real calling, and she was very professional about it," her son said. "She would never leave anything to doubt."

Pet causes included the Boys and Girls Clubs, Illinois Children's Home & Aid and the USO. On the arts front, Mrs. Klimley was present at the birth of the Lyric Opera of Chicago in the 1950s and rallied support that helped the Joffrey Ballet establish itself in the city in the mid-1990s.

Part of the "Ladies who Lunch" crowd at the former Cricket's restaurant in the Tremont Hotel, Mrs. Klimley referred to her late mother as "Mummy" and introduced anecdotes from past soirees with a richly drawn out, "Well, my dearrrrr."

"She was very proper, but she had a sense of humor," said friend Hazel Barr. "She'd put on that winning smile and go talk to those CEOs, and they'd be writing checks for $5,000, $10,000."

The daughter of a successful entrepreneur, the former Nancy Enzweiler grew up on the Near North Side and attended the former Mundelein College in Chicago. She worked briefly in fashion before marrying Francis "Frank" Klimley in 1951.

He was a salesman in textiles who later ran his own commercial floor-covering business, and he relished a fashionable shindig as much as his wife did. The two would be out on the town three or four nights a week for much of their 51-year marriage.

Fundraising requests from Mrs. Klimley arrived on fine stationery in a perfectly turned longhand; thank-you notes followed in the same manner. "She was the last of the great letter-writers," Brooks Klimley said.

Francis Klimley died in 2002.

Other survivors include a daughter, Lisa Malkin; and six grandchildren.

Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, 708 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago.

----------

ttjensen@tribune.com