Nan Wright Winn

Waltham - Nan Wright Winn died 02/24/2025 in Waltham, MA. She was born Nancy True Phillips on 03/21/1935 in Annapolis, MD where her father RADM Richard Helsden Phillips & his wife Betty Mackenzie Seaman Phillips, were living. Due to her father's naval career in U.S. Naval Intelligence, she travelled extensively throughout Britain & Europe as a young child. When her parents divorced in 1947, she began attending boarding schools in the USA& Switzerland, finally settling in at St. Agnes (Episcopal) School, Alexandria, VA, graduating from their high school in 1953. During this period, her mother married Hal James Wright. Hal accepted the position of President at Creole Petroleum Corporation (Standard Oil) in Caracas, Venezuela. Traveling to & from S. America as a minor became an issue, due to her last name being different than her parents, so the U.S. State Dept changed her name to Nan Wright. When attending St. Agnes, she became a Girl Scout, earning their highest award, the Curved Bar. Scouting made an impact on Nan. As such, she was a Scout leader multiple times & cultivated a life of service to others. She was a Lifetime member of the Girl Scouts. Always unconventional, her planned debutante presentation was cancelled because, unknown to her parents, in January 1957, she signed up as a commissioned Naval officer (Ensign) prior to her graduation in June 1957 with her B.A from Mills College, Oakland, CA. As a Lieutenant, she was an Occupational Therapist in the USNR Medical Service Corps with Top Secret Security Clearance. She was an Admiral's Aide for visiting wives of foreign naval officers. As a naval Occupational Therapist (OT) she worked with children & active-duty military personnel returning from Vietnam, specifically soldiers with missing limbs or extreme body burns. It was at SURF Division 1221 that she met her husband LCDR John Greeley Winn II (married 12/27/64 Naval Station Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA & divorced 1992). Nan received an honorable discharge from the Navy when she became pregnant with her first child. Nan & her family lived in Montclair (Oakland), CA& then moved the family to Piedmont, CA in 1974. She lived in Piedmont across three different decades. Once divorced, she was free to move back to the East Coast, settling in a small-town Maynard, MA. She worked as an OT, specializing in geriatric rehabilitation. She presented papers as a speaker at several worldwide OT conferences. She was a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association & the British Occupational Therapy Association. An interesting fact about her is that every ancestral generation of her family has chosen to serve their country by active duty as naval officers since 1742 in the U.S. & Great Britain. Maybe this is what fueled her patriotism. After moving to MA to be near her cousins, she joined the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). It's through the NSDAR Old Concord Chapter that she found a welcome group of friends. She held the position of State Chair DAR Service to Veterans, in addition to frequently acting as a liaison for the NSDAR Old Concord Chapter to the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, MA. She especially enjoyed making lap quilts for veterans in wheelchairs. She cared about her volunteerism, her country, her faith, & her family. She was a parishioner at Trinity Episcopal Church, Concord, MA. Nan is survived by her daughter Sarah Elizabeth Winn Garcia & her spouse Jose Garcia (new to Lexington area, KY, formerly Lake Clarke Shores, FL), son Andrew Mackenzie Winn & his spouse Mirna Winn (bi-coastal W Palm Beach, FL primary & Piedmont, CA secondary), four grandchildren Isabel Winn, Robert Winn, William Winn & George Winn, & her cousin Susan Corey & her spouse Donald Corey (Bedford, MA). She was preceded in death by her grandson, Thomas Michael Garcia. Special thanks from Sarah & Andrew to Donald Corey, Peter Corey, & Brooke Corey. An interment with military funeral honors & a memorial service are pending.