NANCY SINATRA Sr., the first of Frank Sinatra’s four wives and mother of his three children, has died aged 101. Her daughter Nancy Jr. said that she had “passed away peacefully.” “She was a blessing and the light of my life. Godspeed, Momma. Thank you for everything,” she wrote. Nancy Sinatra Sr. was born Nancy Barbato in 1917 and met Frank Sinatra in 1934 at the New Jersey holiday resort of Long Branch. The couple quickly got engaged but Frank Sinatra admitted to having an affair before they eventually married in 1939. In 1950 Nancy Sinatra Sr. was granted a legal separation because of Frank Sinatra’s mental cruelty — she claimed the superstar went away for weekends by himself, and he had a string of extra marital affairs. However, the pair stayed close until Frank Sinatra’s death in 1998, the New York Times reported. Nancy Sinatra Sr. never remarried and lived a quiet life in Beverly Hills, California, focusing on charity work, the newspaper said. The couple had three children — Nancy Jr., who is famed for the song “These Boots Were Made for Walkin” and other hits, Frank Jr., who also had a career in music and died in 2016 aged 72, and Tina. Frank Sinatra’s fourth wife Barbara died last year aged 90. (SD-Agencies) |