Nancy Fox
July 11, 1939-Dec. 15, 2012
Palo Alto, California
Nancy Fox passed away on Dec. 15, 2012. She died with her husband Ed at her side, at their Palo Alto home which they had lived in for more than 40 years.
Nancy would always say that her proudest achievements were her family. Her daughter Alissa of Santa Monica, married to Jeff Silverman with their children Jacob (8) and Adam (5) and her daughter Elizabeth of Oakland, married to James Rogers with Ramona (5) were her greatest joy. Nancy is also survived by her sister Kirsten Manuel of Newport, R.I.
Nancy grew up in Sayreville, N.J. She was salutatorian of her high school class and attended Boston University where she majored in journalism and graduated Cum Laude. While at BU she discovered photography, which would prove to be a life-long passion.
Living in New York City, working at her first job at Baldridge Reading Services, she couldn't help but notice a colleague who would complete the New York Times Crossword Puzzle in ink. She married Edwin Fox during their lunch hour in 1962. For the next two years, Nancy worked as assistant to the PR director at St. Vincent's Hospital before the Foxes moved to Palo Alto to start a family.
Back at work after her girls started school, Nancy worked in public relations for Communication Advocates, The United Way and eventually, The Girl Scouts. It was at the Girl Scouts that Nancy's passionate approach to empowering girls and young women through leadership and community surfaced and in 1987 she became the Executive Director of the Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County, a position she would flourish in for 13 years.
Due in large part to Nancy's efforts, the council received the first Center for Excellence in Non-Profits Member of the Year Award and the GSUSA Quality Recognition Award for measuring outcomes. After retiring in 1999, Nancy continued to work within the Girl Scout organization in the Interim ED program, temporarily serving at various councils throughout the country. She also worked at the national office in New York in 2001, spearheading the council reorganization program.
She served on the board at Girls for Change and continued to mentor women she had inspired throughout her career. Nancy and Ed traveled extensively. In 2012, she had traveled to Florida, the Caribbean, Cuba, New York City, The Bahamas, Tahoe, London and Ireland, all before her cancer diagnosis in September. Some of her travel highlights included Paris, the French countryside, Kenya, Cuba, Newport, and for the past six years, the annual Jazz Cruise. Nancy was always planning the next adventure and her travel photos were ones you actually wanted to look through!
Nancy lived her life unapologetically, leaving no regrets. She cared deeply for those around her and challenged us all to be better people. She was not only strong and courageous, she was compassionate and always knew the right thing to say.
She had an enviable intelligence and a sharp wit that will be missed. She lived a full life, surrounded by every form of art, music and literature. She was an avid photographer all her life, loved going to the theater and museums, appreciated good food, adored artistic jewelry, was an excellent cook, a member of both the Palo Alto Jazz Alliance and the Charleston Meadows Association, delighted in playing Bridge and games of any kind and created works of art in her beautiful garden.
Successfully battling breast cancer in 2010 with courage and grace, Nancy died of an unrelated cancer that was too advanced at diagnosis to fight successfully. Nancy's strength and zest for life played itself out to the end.
There will be a memorial held at the Lou Henry Hoover Program Center in Ricconada Park on Saturday, Jan. 5, from noon to 3 p.m.
If you would like to make a contribution in Nancy's honor, please consider the Girl Scouts of Northern California. Their website is http://www.girlscoutsnorcal.org. Nancy would also want you to go see a play, listen to some jazz, read a great book, go out to a fabulous lunch and above all else, eat the best chocolate.
