|
Nancy Jane Reid passed away peacefully and comfortably on September 25, 2015 with her close family at her side.
Nancy Jane was born August 8, 1951 in Fort Worth, Texas, and went to college at the University of Texas in Austin where she majored in photojournalism. She was drawn to the desert of Big Bend, Texas where she thrived on hard light and deep canyons. She lived in the ghost town of Terlingua and guided Rio Grande river trips with Far Flung Adventures. At the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute in Alpine, Texas she joined up with her future husband, Pete. Together they traveled in Mexico, camping at the base of 500-foot cliffs studying and photographing Maroon-fronted Parrots and Peregrine Falcons.
Nancy Jane moved with Pete to Pocatello, Idaho where he went to graduate school while she ran rivers and explored outer and inner worlds with her cameras and darkroom. They married in 1982 and their son, Alex, was born in 1986.
In 1987 they moved to Newport, far from the crisp light and desert vistas that she loved. Nevertheless, Nancy Jane jumped right in and became an integral member of our community, touching many lives with her passionate energy. She was deeply involved in local theater as actor (Truvy in Steel Magnolias) and photographer. For 10 years she managed the Visual Arts Center bringing in shows from national artists and teaching Art Mondays/Tuesdays kid’s art classes. Everyone in Newport has seen Nancy Jane’s photos in the News-Times, on posters and publicity brochures, and exhibits in galleries around town. She excelled at “capturing the moment” at the play, the concert, the wedding, or the Oregon Coast Jazz Party. On top of that, she still found time to swim at the pool, sing in the Central Coast Chorale, and donate her time to Altrusa. She seemed to be everywhere and know everyone.
Beneath it all, Nancy Jane was deeply curious and found constant delight in the world’s mysteries, from the grand and philosophical to the small and seemingly mundane. Her “sense of absurdity,” as she called it, allowed her to remain doggedly positive in the face of great adversity. Everyone around her has found inspiration in her strength and perspective, and we will continue to learn from her for a long time to come.
She is survived by her husband Peter Lawson, her son Alex Lawson, her sister Ellen, brothers Brian and Robert, nieces Rebecca and Allison, and nephews Michael and Stephen.
There will be a Celebration of Life at the Performing Arts Center on Halloween, October 31 from 3:00 to 5:30. Costumes and absurdity are welcome.
Remembrances in her name should go to the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts, Visual Arts Center, Youth Art Program.
.jpg)
|
Kathy Alexander
Rest in peace sweet Nancy.
Kathy Alexander
Dub Ambrose
Nancy was one of the first friends I made when I transferred (with some of my buddies) to McLean Junior High after we completed St. Andrew's Catholic School.
Nancy and I connected through music, more specifically, folk music, more specifically, Peter, Paul & Mary. She had a beautiful, silken voice and was strong and, along with her lovely blonde hair, easily reminded me of Mary Travers herself. We got together just to sing some tunes and found our voices blended pretty well. And, though there were only two of us, we decided to enter the Talent Show and sing our rendition of PP&M's "Stewball."
Well, Nancy was AWESOME and we were awarded for our number. Though we sang a bit more after that event, we kind of went our own ways musically. But, I will never forget how gracious and fun she was and her willingness to take a chance to sing in public with me.
God's Blessings on Nancy and on all of her family and friends.
Cathy Munson (Ambrose)
Nancy also inspired me in our teen years... at PHS and Camp El Tesoro. I not only admired her talent and intellegence but also her sincerity and love for nature. She was unique and real..something we were all trying to figure out how to do at the time. Our freshman year at UT we were on the same floor at Jester. We were in and out of each others' rooms often and discused many topics. She explained to me what it meant to be a hippie....wanting Love, Peace, and Harmony for the whole planet! So I joined right in ..."No war, no makeup, no bra, no pretense, no nonsence! She was a quite a gal! I imagine heaven with her fully enjoying freedom and intimacy with her creator and his creations! -Cathy
Jayne Loader
During our senior year, Nancy and I were on PSOP and Leadership Committee and, gradually, we became friends. It wasn’t a quick, natural friendship, because Nancy and I were so different. It looked to me as if everything came easily for her: classes, looks, popularity, boys. I envied this and resented it a little bit, too (because, for me, everything came hard). But, as I got to know her, I realized my first impression of Nancy was wrong and I was underestimating how hard she really worked.
Nancy wasn’t just beautiful—she was smart, principled and brave. When Nancy spoke in Leadership Committee, people listened--because we all knew that Nancy thought carefully before speaking up and wasn't just saying the first clever thing that popped into her brain. She always made sense, so her voice carried a lot of weight. She knew the difference between right and wrong, never glibly arguing both sides of a question, then checking to see which way the wind was blowing. She was consistent.
When Nancy said she had read a book, you know that meant she'd read it carefully, from cover to cover, had understood it and thought about it--unlike some of us, who skimmed, then formulated a couple of quirky, interesting thoughts with which to dazzle our teachers. When Nancy recommended a book, you knew you'd better read it--even if you didn't understand why until years later. (Aldo Leopold's classic, "A Sand Country Almanac," is one of Nancy's books I still have on my shelf.) She was an environomentalist years before anybody else, before most people had even heard the word, and cared deeply about ending racism and the Vietnam War. She also had a wicked sense of humor--it was Nancy who had the idea to wear love beads with our PSOP uniforms--and, like our friend Richard Adcock, was addicted to bad puns.
How surprised everyone was when Nancy made the then-daring move to align herself with our little group of left-wing, anti-war activists and intellectuals and to date a member of our tribe. After that, Nancy and I got closer. By the end of our senior year, we were double-dating (Nancy with George McLendon, me with Craig Childs).
Nancy Ennen (Schaefers)
Nancy Reid was a good friend of mine beginning at South Hills Elementary where I was in her Mother’s Campfire Girls group. She was Nancy Jane & I was Nancy Gene! I admired her beautiful white blonde hair and hope my hair might turn that color, but I had strawberry blonde hair and freckled skin that only turned red in the sun and as you all know Nancy had skin that tanned without any trouble. Nancy loved camping at El Tesoro and I thought camping was at the Holiday Inn!
When I was on the 45th Reunion Committee, Nancy was someone who had been “missing” and I remembered seeing an article about Nancy & her river rafting business. I didn’t find her but I believe Ron did, but I think it was after she passed away. I miss many of my old classmates from South Hills, Wedgwood (first semester of 7th grade), McLean, and Paschal until the summer before our senior year. I know this is supposed to be for remembering Nancy, I want everyone to know that some of us want to see as many people we went to school with no matter how short or long the time was. God bless Nancy.