Dr. Nancy Offenhauser

1948 - 2011

Amenia, New York--Nancy Offenhauser, D.C., who had maintained a neighborhood Chiropractic office in Amenia since 1995, died suddenly of cardiac arrest on March 7.
Dr. Offenhauser, a familiar and popular resident of Amenia, was a 1970 graduate of Smith College, of the California institute of the Arts Film School in 1971, and later of National College of Chiropractic in Lombard, Illinois, where she also studied acupuncture. She once wrote, "My style of practice has been influenced by the writings of Bernie Siegel, Deepak Chopra, and Norman Cousins, all of whom helped me begin to understand the almost infinite changeability of the body." Recently she has studied with Lynne August, MD- who has developed a computerized method of analyzing bloodwork based on the work of Emanuel Revici, MD-and with Gladys McGarey, MD, a founding member of the American Holistic Medical Association and a pioneer in the application of the medical intuitive work of Edgar Cayce.
A longtime resident of New York City who worked at CBS and in many Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters and ballet stages as an electrician and stagehand, she was heralded in the New York press as the first woman to hold a card in Local 1 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). A musician who played five instruments, she has also worked the orchestra pit.
A pioneer in other arenas as well, Nancy Offenhauser was the author of Healing Cancer Peacefully: A Memoir, and was scheduled to address the students of the University of Bridgeport's Chiropractic College in April, having been chosen to launch one of the school's new divisions. Two days before she died, she conducted the third in her series of classes on natural healing at New York City's highly regarded Edgar Cayce Center, founded by the father of holistic medicine.
Born December 30, 1948 and raised in New Canaan, CT, she was the daughter of the late Helen and Bill Offenhauser. Dr. Offenhauser is survived by her sisters, Mimi Kuester of Washington D.C., Janet Offenhauser of North Salem, NY, Fran Offenhauser of Los Angeles, her partner in life and business, Patricia G. Horan of Kent, CT, and countless devoted patients and friends.
One of Dr. Offenhauser's patients, Serafino Buetti of Torrington, CT, described the community's loss in his own words: "When anyone leaves us, there is an emptiness, but this one is huge. My first thought when I heard of Nancy's passing was that she is irreplaceable. No one can fill her shoes. Like many of us, no matter what the medical problem was, I'd dial one number-Nancy's. She saved my father's life, and very much of my own."
Donations may be made in Dr. Offenhauser's name to the Edgar Cayce New York Center through the center's website, EdgarCayceNYC.org.
A memorial gathering for the community will be announced at a future date.