When Nancy Campanella was growing up in South Philly during the Depression, she aspired to become an artist. One of nine children, she worked in her father’s grocery store after school and on weekends. She showed artistic talent while at South Philadelphia High School for Girls, and was offered an art-school scholarship but had to decline it because of family responsibilities.

“When I was ready to go to kindergarten at age 5, she was the person to take me to school for the first day,” said her sister Frances DelCiotto, 76. “Any time there was a parent meeting, my mother would send one of the older daughters.”