Energy, Wit Marked Life Of Nancy Brasfield

Nancy Elaine Brasfield was a human battery. Copper-topped and energized, she brightened many a Seattle business, including her own bookstore in the Pike Place Market.

She enlivened family gatherings, from Christmas parties to travels to Seattle Mariner spring-training games with her father, Seattle Times columnist Emmett Watson. She developed a player-rating system based on how nice they were to children.

And she was an eager companion on trips with her husband of 22 years, Michael Brasfield of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

"She enjoyed sailing, and we had a 36-foot sailboat for a few years," said her husband, who is Fort Lauderdale's police chief.

"We took a cross-country motorcycle trip from Seattle to New Orleans and did a lot of exploring on the West Coast by motorcycle. We have a Honda Goldwing and had a lot of fun with it. She rode behind. She absolutely refused to go in a sidecar."

Mrs. Brasfield was bright and witty but not all cheer: Back in her waitress days at Jake O'Shaughnessey's restaurant, she responded to unwanted behavior by dumping a tray of drinks in a patron's lap.

"She didn't care if he did turn out to be quite a prominent man here," said her mother, Betty Lea Watson of Seattle.

Mrs. Brasfield, a Fort Lauderdale resident the past two years, died of cancer Friday. She was 48.

Born in Seattle, she graduated from Queen Anne High School in 1966 and attended Wenatchee Valley Community College. She spent a year in Hawaii as a waitress.

When she returned to Seattle, Mrs. Brasfield also worked in restaurants. Then in 1974, she fulfilled a dream by opening a bookstore, Watson's Books.

She sold the store in 1979 to do promotional work for the Space Needle.

"She liked that and did well because she was outgoing, vivacious and liked people," said her husband. "She did a lot of entertaining and developed special promotions for Scandinavian holidays."

In the mid-1980s she became office manager for Northwest Yacht Repair on Lake Union and continued that after moving to Fort Lauderdale. She telecommuted and ran the office by fax and computer.

"I think she was happy with any job she had," said her mother. "She was a bright and fun person to be around. Christmas was her favorite holiday. I decorated the house like mad, and she carried on that tradition. She had an enormous tree that she just covered with decorations."

"She was kind, sensitive, had lots of empathy, and a great wit," said her sister, Lea Watson of Seattle. "She had me in stitches from the time she was little to the day before she passed on."

Survivors include her stepson, David Brasfield of Seattle, and stepdaughter, Laura Robinson, and two stepgrandsons of Fallbrook, Calif.

There will be no local services. Memorials may go to Bryant Penney Scholarship Fund, c/o Fort Lauderdale Police Department, 1300 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312.

Carole Beers' phone-message number is 206-464-2391. Her e-mail address is: cbee-new@seatimes.com