Nancy Frappier

1947 - 2016

Nancy Gail Stein Frappier

March 27, 1947 – May 30, 2016

Nancy was born and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She was the first daughter of Saul and Ruthe Stein. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan, where she pursued her interests in child psychology and art history. After living in New York City for several years, where she began her life-long commitment to creating a better world through social activism, Nancy moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1969.
Nancy worked on many social and political issues throughout her life -- among these were, ending the Vietnam War and the U.S. government's interventionist policies in Latin America and other areas of the world. She also dedicated great energy to the achievement of civil rights and racial equality within the United States.
Nancy was a tireless worker for social justice, including her ongoing commitment to ensuring that social services were available to those who needed them. She spent the last 21 years building and directing the Wellness Center at the Homeless Prenatal Program in San Francisco. Nancy created a holistic system of care that supported thousands of poor and homeless mothers deliver healthy babies. Her kind and generous spirit impacted all who crossed her path – clients, staff, community partners and students.
She was an extraordinary social worker, always seeing the goodness in each person sitting before her; she never stopped trying to help parents and colleagues reach their highest potential. Nancy was firm in her commitment to health equity and social justice. While she had numerous accomplishments, her greatest was giving the most oppressed the tools and hope they needed to change their lives. Nancy's spirit will live on through the work she began and the many lives that changed through her love and support.
In 2015, Nancy was honored with a Community Partner Award at the San Francisco Black Infant Health Program's 20th Annual Afrocentric Family and Life Conference for improving black infant birth outcomes and ensuring that all babies receive an equal start at life.
After a long battle with lymphoma, Nancy passed away at age 69, surrounded by family and close friends. She is survived by her daughters Diana (Oakland) and Emily (San Pablo), her sisters Judith Cobb (Manchester, England) and Debora Stein (New York City), her grandchildren Mia, Marlon and Justice, her former husband and lifelong friend Jon Frappier (Pacifica), her step-children Michael and Renee, and step-grandchildren Caitlin and Vincent, and her partner Doug Davis (Benicia).
A memorial to celebrate Nancy's life will be held at the Homeless Prenatal Program on Saturday, July 30th from 11 am to 2 pm. Donations may be sent to Homeless Prenatal Program, 2500 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94110 (www.homelessprenatal.org). If you wish to donate to other causes Nancy supported, they are: Chicana/Latina Foundation (www.chicanalatina.org), Ella Baker Center (www.ellabakercenter.org), Green for All/Dream Corps. (www.greenforall.org) or Machen Center (www.machencenter.org).