Nancy Stanford
NANCY STANFORD was born on Aug 16, 1950 in rural western Ohio. She grew up in Ohio City, OH, a town of 850. She attended school in a building that housed grades K-12 and graduated first in a class of 22. She then enrolled in Purdue University and majored in chemistry, a field not usually chosen by women at that time. She graduated in 1972 with distinction and made Phi Beta Kappa.
She then began work in a research lab where she met her first husband, Jim Davis. She contributed to the research that led to the use of low dose aspirin to prevent heart attack. They moved to St Louis where their first son, Stephen was born. They then moved to Wilmington where Jim worked for DuPont. It was here their second son, Philip, was born.
Nancy was a stay at home mom while her boys were growing up. She took a quilting class. Over the years she made a number of quilts, including one of a Mobius strip and another based on a pangram (a saying that uses all the letters of the alphabet.) She dyed her own fabrics and produced her own designs in her quilts. She also became a voracious knitter and made numerous pairs of socks and quite a few sweaters. This was a common pastime for her while traveling.
In 1999, Nancy and Jim divorced and Nancy entered law school at Widener University in Wilmington. She received her JD in 2003. In 2003, she was admitted to the Delaware Supreme Court bar. In 2008, she was admitted to the bar of the US Supreme Court. During that ceremony, she met Ruth Bader Ginsberg. From 2005-2008, Nancy was a Deputy Attorney General for Delaware doing child support enforcement.
Nancy and John met online at a time of career transitions for both of them—Nancy had left the AG’s office and John retired from the Naval Academy. Nancy retired in April 2009.
In September 2009, Nancy and John took John’s two daughters, son in law and new grandson on an Alaska cruise to celebrate retirement. This was the start of their touring the world. Over the next 15 years, they visited over 50 countries. In 2017, they went completely around the world. In the process, they landed on every continent (except Antarctica.) They spent 72 hours in the air and walked untold miles through airports. On Jan 1, 2023, they filled in the missing continent by setting foot on Antarctica. Also in 2017, they traveled to Tennessee, along with grandson Andrew, to see the total solar eclipse. And in 2024, they traveled to Ohio to see another total solar eclipse. This was their last trip together.
Nancy was interested in genealogy and she and John made many trips through muddy cemeteries and looking through dusty land records.
Nancy was a talented singer. She and John sang in the Queen Anne’s Chorale and in the UU choir in Easton.
In 2010, she and John joined the peace vigil in front of the courthouse in Easton. Two years later, they started their own vigil in their town of Centreville.
Nancy leaves behind two sons, Stephen and Philip, a sister, Kay and her husband, Mike, as well as John’s daughters, Hannah and Sarah, Sarah’s husband, Bill, and grandson, Andrew. And, as she said, “the light of my life, John".