Friends and family are grieving the loss of Nancy Porter (nee Nelson) who died at the age of 89 on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, in Pullman. Nancy was born on March 25, 1934, in Idaho Falls where her father, Don Nelson co-ran a construction business and her mother, Margaret was a homemaker. Nancy received a master’s degree in political science from the University of Idaho where she also took coursework for a doctorate degree in the same subject.
All her life, Nancy was a voracious reader. She loved books of all kinds, especially mysteries. She spent much of her working career as a librarian at Washington State University. In 1963, Nancy married Richard “Dick” Porter, a Chemistry Professor at the University of Idaho. A lifelong Idaho resident until the early 1980s, Nancy moved to Madison, Wis., with Dick to pursue career opportunities there, and then to Louisville, Ky. While in Louisville, Nancy returned to school and earned a master’s degree in library science so that she could become a librarian in Louisville. Although away for many years, Nancy and Dick never lost their love of living in Idaho, and they returned to Moscow in 1998 after they both retired.
Nancy was a kind, generous and devoted contributor to causes she felt passionate about, like Doctors Without Borders, the American Civil Liberties Union and multiple organizations protecting and saving animals. She was a keen follower of history and political science and subscribed to the New York Times and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News until her death. Nancy also loved cats, and she fostered and adopted many of them over the years.
Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, Don and Margaret Nelson, her husband, Richard Porter, her brother, Thomas Nelson, and her sister-in-law, Ella Nelson Eagle. She is survived by her son, Kevin Porter of Elkridge, Md.; her daughter-in-law, Michelle; two granddaughters, Stephanie Porter of Pittsboro, N.C., and Ari Porter and her husband Wesley Wiesenberger of Asheville, N.C.; by two nephews, Kyle Nelson of Boise and Hal Nelson of Portland, Ore., and their respective families; her sister-in-law, Sharon Nelson of Boise, and sister-in-law Carolyn O’Grady and brother-in-law Jim Bonilla of Winona, Minn.
In lieu of flowers, those wishing to remember Nancy are requested to make a contribution to Doctors Without Borders.
