In Memoriam: Nancy Owen Lewis

We have lost a wonderful friend, a committed scholar, a valuable leader at HSFF, and a great lady. Nancy Owen Lewis passed away last Wednesday evening, and there is a void at 545 Canyon Road.

“Dr. Lewis provided us with wisdom on the Board of Directors, leadership on two projects that were dear to her – the 5th edition of Old Santa Fe Today and the history interpretation plan as part of our Master Plan for El Zaguán. I believe the first time I met Nancy eight years ago now, she was prodding me to have the foundation publish a new edition of the book, and so proud that The School of American Research, SAR (now the School for Advanced Research), had published the first edition of OSFT in 1966. She had a long affiliation with SAR as a Scholar in Residence from 2011 to the present and as former Director of Scholar Programs. Likewise, her long-time commitment to HSFF filled many roles: former Chair of the Board, Board Director, Chair of the El Zaguán Interpretation Committee, Editor, and coordinator of the publication committee for Old Santa Fe Today, 5th edition.

She is an integral part of our foundation’s history and has moved us towards our future.

It is a very sad time in Santa Fe for everyone she worked with and touched. I will miss her sagacity and her wit. Several years ago I visited her office in the SAR Press building and after a serious conversation about some HSFF governance issue, I turned to leave and saw a table lamp that appeared to show a cow, inside the clear body of the lamp, being raised in a beam of light to a UFO hovering above. I was certain this was a person to be reckoned with. And so she was.” — Pete Warzel, HSFF Executive Director

Read the obituary and find out about the services for Dr. Nancy Owen Lewis.

As a Board Director and historian, Dr. Lewis had an incredible passion for the history of Santa Fe especially surrounding many of the women who arrived in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico in the 20th century including the White Sisters, El Zaguán owner Margretta Dietrich, and Dietrich’s sister, the artist Dorothy Stewart. We are pleased to offer a wonderful example of her ability to engage an audience through her fascinating storytelling abilities based in scholarly research. In this video, she traces the history of the home of Historic Santa Fe Foundation and its many inhabitants over its history. We always enjoyed a presentation by Nancy with her lively style and personality and evident knowledge and passion for her topics. We hope you enjoy this video of Nancy’s history of El Zaguán.

For so many reasons, we will miss Nancy Owen Lewis at Historic Santa Fe Foundation.