Nancy Dammann

1919 - 2015

Dammann, Nancy
Nancy Dammann, 96, of Peoria, Arizona passed away on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. Born in Chicago, Illinois, August 5, 1919, Nancy was the daughter of Isabel Lynde and John Francis Dammann. Upon graduating from Smith College (1941), she embarked on a career of service that eventually took her across the world. She first became a Courier for the Kentucky-based Frontier Nursing Service riding horseback to escort health professionals and carried medical supplies to distant clinics throughout rural Kentucky. With the entry of the United States into World War II, she joined the Women's Army Corps and served as a Classification Specialist in administrative offices in the South Pacific. During her service she was awarded an Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon with Three Bronze Battle Stars, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with One Bronze Battle Star, the WAC Service Ribbon and Two Overseas Service Bars along with a Good Conduct Medal. She was Honorably Discharged in 1945. She returned to Asia with the U.S. Department of State's Information Service working in Madras, India, and subsequently became the first American female diplomat in Nepal. Always intrepid, Nancy's work with USIS found her trekking into the Himalayas with public health workers, visiting medical clinics in distant villages. In the 1960s, she joined the United States Agency for International Development, (USAID), serving in Thailand, Jamaica, and the Philippines. She returned to the United States in the late 1960's, earned a Master's in Journalism from Northwestern University, and returned to Kentucky to open an independent bookstore and write a study of the Frontier Nursing Service that became her PhD dissertation and later a book. When she retired to Sun City, Arizona, she focused on writing, golf, volunteer work, and rescuing dogs. She published four books: Social History of the Frontier Nursing Service (June 1982), A WAC'S Story (December 1991), We Tried: Government Service in India and Nepal (February 1996) and My 17 Years with USAID: The Good and Bad (December 2003). Her brothers, Thomas Dammann, John Francis Dammann and Peter Dammann, preceded Nancy in death. She is survived by her sister in law Sara Gay Dammann of Charlevoix, Michigan, and numerous nieces, nephews. She will be buried with Military Honors at Arlington National Cemetery. A memorial gathering in Sun City, Arizona is planned for October. Please visit www.menkefuneralhome.com to leave condolences for the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made by check to Save the Children USA at 501 Kings Highway East, Suite 400, Fairfield, CT 06825. Please mark in memory of Nancy Dammann and designate for the NEPAL earthquake response. Or online https://secure.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6238339/k.A96/Honor_a_Loved_Ones_Legacy_with_a_Memorial_Donation/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp