Nancy Grace Dirst

Nancy Grace Dirst – Beloved Sister

Nancy Dirst passed away April 6, 2023, in Portland, Oregon. She was 69 years old. Nancy passed away peacefully in the company of her lifelong friend, Paula Brennan Swertfeger of Brush Prairie, Washington.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 15th, at 10am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 19180 NW West Union Road, Hillsboro, Oregon. Threadgill Memorial Services in Beaverton, Oregon will be overseeing the service. The church will accept flowers and condolences. The burial site is Union at Cedar Mill Cemetery.

Born on 23 December 1953 in Louisville, Kentucky. Nancy grew up in Chicago and graduated from Wheeling HS in 1971 and from the University of Tulsa in 1975. As a nurse and in administrative roles, Nancy worked in the healthcare industry all her life and lived and worked in Idaho and Utah, before finally settling in Oregon.

Nancy joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1971 before graduating high school and remained an active member all her life. She served as a healthcare missionary for the church in Uruguay and Paraguay. Nancy touched so many lives in positive ways.

Nancy was the oldest child and loving daughter of the late John J. Dirst and Suzanne Dirst of Prescott, AZ, who passed away in 2004 and 2010 respectively.

Survived by brothers David S. Dirst and Kenneth R. Dirst and sister-in-law Nok Kitchaksin, sister Candi L. Campise (née Dirst) and brother-in-law Morris Campise, Nancy was a cherished sister, who will always be remembered as a kind, funny, clever, and helpful soul. On birthdays and Christmas, Nancy always gave great gift bags that she put together with a good amount of effort and a lot of love. Those often funny and personalized gifts were Nancys' trademark.

Tolerance was also one of Nancys' traits and being the "straight" one in the family did not prevent her from serving as our good-luck charm at the occasional casino. One time at a family party one of the party goers imbibed a bit too much; Nancy made sure to secure that person's car keys.

Nancy loved her pet cats, and was also great at many arts and crafts, which were usually destined to friends and family members as gifts. She loved living out west and often sent photographs of the beautiful scenery that she enjoyed.

Ever since Nancy was a young girl she wanted to be a nurse. As she contemplated retirement, she didn't even want to do it because as she said, "I love this and I want to keep being a nurse until I can't anymore."

The only thing she loved more than that was being in the service of her Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ. She lived all that she believed.