Nancy Jean Amidei

Nancy Amidei, known to the children of the neighborhood (and some adults) as Banana, passed away quietly in her sleep on April 8, 2025 at her home in Seattle. 

 

She was born in Lake Forest, IL on March 27, 1942. After graduating from Loyola University, Chicago in 1963 she spent two years in the Peace Corps in Nigeria before getting her Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1968. 

 

Her long and active career in political activism started in Washington, DC at the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and ended in Seattle, Washington teaching at the UW School of Social Work. Themes that ran throughout her professional life were women, children, poverty, hunger, social security reform, and political advocacy. Her energy and convictions were intense and unflagging, as was her love of food, family, and chocolate.  

 

She is mourned by her sisters Barbara and Margaret, her extended family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and anyone whose spirits were raised by her cheerfulness and optimism. A memorial event is being planned by the family.