Caroline Hannaford Pillsbury

Caroline Hannaford (“Nina”) Pillsbury died peacefully at Sibley Memorial Hospital in

Washington D.C. early in the morning of December 24, 2024, surrounded by her family.

Born in Minneapolis on April 26, 1946, Nina was the eldest daughter of Gaspar Pacheco

Amador, a Panamanian architect whose great-uncle, Manuel Amador Guerrero was the first

President of Panama, and Barbara Barnwell Battin. Nina’s father and mother met and

married in Panama during World War II when Barbara was working for an Army General in

the Canal Zone. After Barbara remarried, Nina grew up in White Bear Lake, MN with her

mother, her step-father Jule M. Hannaford III, and her siblings Chichi, Betsy, and Jule.

Nina attended Summit School in St. Paul, MN and graduated from the Shipley School and

Briarcliff College. She also attended the Boston Conservatory of Music.

In 1969, Nina married Philip Winston Pillsbury, Jr. (“Phil”). Nina became an accomplished

homemaker, hostess, and events planner who accompanied her husband to diplomatic posts in

Lubumbashi, Zaire, Tehran, Iran, Turin, Italy, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. While living

abroad, Nina immersed herself in the life of the local communities, learning French, Italian

and Spanish, even taking on the care of a dwarf chimpanzee “Samantha” in Zaire. Whether

she was skiing the slopes of Iran, Europe, Argentina or the Colorado Rockies, horseback

riding at the HF Bar Ranch, entertaining friends at home or enlivening Embassy parties, Nina

maintained an immaculate and consummate sense of style and elegance.

In 1984, Nina and Phil settled in Washington D.C. where Nina dedicated herself to the

advancement of the choral arts as a stalwart member of the Women’s Committee of the

Washington Opera and the Choral Arts Society. Throughout her volunteer work as a

fundraiser, Nina organized numerous charity events, including serving as chairwoman of the

Red Cross Ball in 1997, with Lady Diana, Princess of Wales, as the guest of honor, one of

Lady Diana’s last public events. Nina and Phil were enthusiastic supporters of the Alliance

Française, united in their love of France, the French language, and French culture. Nina was

on the Alliance Française Gala Committee helping to plan the 120th anniversary of the

organization to be celebrated in May 2025.

Nina was a member of the Sulgrave Club and the Chevy Chase Club. Her favorite songwriting

duo was Rodgers and Hammerstein. “Getting to know you, getting to know all about you, getting

to like you, getting to hope you like me. Getting to know you, putting it my way, but nicely,”

captures how Nina lived her life.

Nina was preceded in death by her husband Phil, and is survived by her children, Caroline and Philip III, her son-in-law Drew Oliver and daughter-in-law Cynthia, seven grandchildren, Andrew, Elizabeth, Serena, Anna, Winston, Thomas, and Millicent; and Phil’s daughter Fendell Pillsbury, her husband Michael Lang,

and their children Dustin and Dalton; and her sister Chichi Steiner, her brother-in-law Tom

Rassieur, her sister Betsy Hannaford, and her brother Jule Hannaford.