Obituaries

Woody Nance (1938-2014)

Thursday November 20, 2014 - 11:26:00 PM
Woody Nance (1938-2014)
Woody Nance (1938-2014)
Woody Nance (1938-2014)
Woody Nance (1938-2014)

Woody Nance was born December 4th 1938 in Troy North Carolina and died August 20th 2014 in Los Angeles. He grew up in rural circumstances with brother Hank and sister Liz. After graduating high school in Troy, he attended Highpoint College and then Duke University as a divinity student. He moved to California in the early Sixties and was deeply involved in the Free Speech movement, which began in 1964 at the Berkeley campus. He worked as a lumper (unloading trucks on the waterfront), and as a masseuse for rock stars (he once gave a massage to Van Morrison). He lived at various communes in San Francisco.  

Woody received his Masters in Social Work from San Francisco State University and then worked in treatment centers for young people with emotional problems, where was able to use his skills of empathy and kindness. Woody Nance met Deirdre Lashgari sometime soon after the big Livermore Action Group arrest in October 1983. They married in 1992 at a ceremony in the Berkeley Rose Garden. Deirdre was finishing her PhD in Comparative Literature. Woody supported Deirdre through the many moves necessary to have an academic position.  

When Deirdre was hired by the English department at Cal State Pomona, they moved to Claremont for about eight years. They then moved to West Los Angeles to have more connection to the music and politics of that part of Los Angeles, and to have more access to the beaches and deserts which they visited regularly. Woody Nance was a supportive person, not only for Deirdre Lashgari, but for many other friends and family. When people visited their bungalow in Culver City they were treated to gourmet dinners cooked by Woody and to navigation through Los Angeles, always carefully plotted and planned with his trusty Thomas Guide.  

Woody was left heartbroken by Deirdre’s death on August 14th, 20014. He died of a heart attack a week later. He leaves behind many friends dating back to the Free Speech Movement days, his sister Liz and all of Deirdre’s family. A website in honor of Deirdre and Woody can be found at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~beberly/deirdre/dee.html. Contributions in memory of Deidre and Woody can be made to Western States Legal Foundation in honor of their work in the anti-nuclear movement.