Nancy Jeanne Cribbs

Nancy Jeanne Cribbs died on Oct. 17, 2016, in Chatfield. She was 79 years old. 

Ms. Cribbs was born on Aug. 9, 1937, in Waseca, Minn., lived in Waterville, Minn., as a child and graduated from Winona Senior High School in 1955. She attended Vassar College and graduated from Carleton College in 1959.  Encouraged by her grandfather to be a lawyer from the age of 3, she graduated from Harvard Law School in 1962 where she was one of only about 20 female students in her class of more than 500 students. 

An early trailblazer for women in the law, she moved to New York City after graduating from law school and knocked on the doors of many law firms seeking employment before being hired by Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP as their first female attorney since World War II.  She later taught at the University of North Dakota and was an associate at Pattishall McAuliffe in Chicago and Baker Hostetler in Cleveland before commencing her 30-year tenure as the general counsel of Cleveland State University. While at CSU, Ms. Cribbs, then known as Nancy C. Buckley, was active in the National Association of College and University Attorneys. 

Ms. Cribbs retired to Rochester in 2004. In Rochester, she was an ardent volunteer for the DFL and enjoyed reading, knitting and visiting with her grandchildren.

She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Buckley Lewis, of New York City, and grandchildren Anna Catherine Lewis and John William Lewis, also of New York. 

Ms. Cribbs was preceded in death by her parents, William O. and Abbie E. Cribbs, of Rochester. 

Her ashes will be interred at noon Saturday, Nov. 5, at Sakatah Cemetery in Waterville. 

Contributions, in lieu of flowers, may be made to the Poverello Foundation, Mayo Clinic.