Nancy L. Morris

Nancy L. Morris died January 28, 2015, in Taos, NM. She was born Nancy L. Steel in Durham, NC, and grew up in Marietta, Ohio. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University and graduated in 1972. Later she received an MA degree in guidance and counseling from Adams State University in Alamosa, CO. For 11 years, Nancy worked as an elementary school teacher on the Navajo reservation at Pueblo Pintado School in NM. She moved to Anchorage, AK in 1999, where she taught in a Spanish immersion program in an elementary school for 12 years. One of her students wrote about her: When I'm with you, there's a rainbow in my head. Always a free spirit, Nancy backpacked extensively throughout Alaska, New Mexico, Colorado, and along the Appalachian Trail. Some of her greatest joys in life came while backpacking by herself in Denali National Park in Alaska, where she had many encounters with bears and wolves. After her retirement, she and her husband ski bummed in Red Lodge MT and Crested Butte, CO. She planned to do the same in Taos but was prevented by illness. She is survived by husband Curtis, brother, Jim Steel (Sue), close cousin Dr. Anne Gately (Ira), niece Shannon Hamm, (John) nephew William Steel (Chelsea) and a large network of lifelong friends. A private memorial will be held on March 20th at a time and place yet to be determined.