Nancy Westman

MADISON - Nancy Kathryn Baehre Westman, age 81, passed away on August 31 as a 36-year survivor of breast cancer in her home in Madison, Wisconsin.

Nancy was born June 17, 1931, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the daughter of Gertrude and Otto Baehre. She graduated as valedictorian from Central High School in Grand Rapids in 1949. She then attended and graduated with a B.A. from the University of Michigan with Alpha Lambda Delta, Phi Kappa Phi, and Phi Beta Kappa Honors. She was a member of Alpha Phi Sorority, the Michigan League Interviewing Council, and Mortarboard.

Nancy married Jack Westman on July 17, 1953, at LaGrave Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She worked as a book editor, apartment manager, Treasurer of the Bethel Lutheran Parish Shoppe, and volunteer at Meriter Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. Her greatest and most treasured achievements were as a mother of three sons and grandmother of six grandsons and three granddaughters.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her husband, Jack; her sister, Barbara; her children, Daniel (Alison), John (Jan), and Eric (Gretchen); and her grandchildren, Matthew, Laura, Carly. Peter, Megan, Eric, Luke, Clay, and Alexander Westman.

Nancy will be remembered as a loving and caring friend who dedicated her life to family and her church, as a great gardener, and as a lover of birds and good writing. Her engaging smile was an inspiration to others. She was coordinator of Project Understanding, a Mississippi-Wisconsin exchange program. She was active in the Alpha Phi sorority and was on the Madison Chapter Board of Directors; the Shorewood Hills PTA; Bethel Lutheran Church groups, including the Evelyn Circle; the Dollars and Sense Investment club; the Road Home; Canyon Scholars as a Director and Secretary; the International Crane Foundation; the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary; and the National Vulvodynia Association. Nancy's passion for poetry was expressed in her repertoire of memorized poems.

Funeral services will be held at BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 312 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison, on Friday, September 7, at 11:00 AM with Rev. Curt Everson officiating. A visitation will be held at the church beginning at 9:30 AM until the time of the service. Burial will follow on Saturday, September 8, at Forest Hill Cemetery.
Instead of flowers memorials may be sent to the National Vulvodynia Association, P.O. Box 4491, Silver Spring, MD 20914-4491.