Ouellette: Making her mark in Spencer

(Photo by Kris Todd) Nancy Ouellette, who enjoys gardening among different activities, tends to one of the areas she's established in her yard in Spencer. [Order this photo]

"I have lots of things I'm interested in and there's lots of things to get excited about in the world," the 58-year-old, who admits she's not a "sitter," recently said during an interview in her home.

As evidenced by her front and back yards, Ouellette has a green thumb. She also enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, singing with Sacred Heart Church's choir, and giving of her time to causes such as Spencer Community Theatre (SCT) and Birthright. Ouellette admits that she doesn't sleep very much. She also acknowledges having a large circle of friends, all of whom are tied to her various interests in life, which fill her with passion and excitement.

Ouellette, who grew up on a farm north of Webb, has a close relationship with her parents, Rex and Bobbie Travis, who winter in Arizona and summer at the home they built on the northern shores of Lost Island Lake.

The South Clay High School alumna is also a devoted mother and grandmother. Ouellette's daughter, Christina Pierce of Spencer, is a professional pianist who also works within the Spencer High School vocal music department. Pierce and her husband, Matt, have three children: Aria, Makenna and Tanner.

Just as playing the piano is an integral part of her daughter's life, Ouellette said music has also played a big part in hers. She remembers singing "How Much is That Doggie in the Window" with her sister on Canyon Kid's Corner, with host Jim Henry on KCAU TV, as well as being hauled by her music teacher to sing at Webb Federated Women's Club meetings as a young girl. Right after graduating from high school, Ouellette traveled with the Up With People group along the East Coast and performed at the Republican National Convention when Richard Nixon was nominated in August 1968. She's sang soprano with her local church choir since 1980 and recalls being "left in the dust" as she attempted to learn how to play the piano alongside her adolescent daughter.

Ouellette, who graduated from the three-year diploma program offered at St. Joseph School of Nursing in Sioux City, lived in Sioux City and California before relocating to Spencer in 1976. The board-certified urologic registered nurse admitted she looks forward to going to work every day at Northwest Iowa Urologists, P.C. for Dr. Walter Mendenhall.

"I'm very lucky. Not all people can say that. I love my job," she said. Of Mendenhall, Ouellette added, "I've worked for him since he came to Spencer in 1981. I'm the only nurse he's ever had. ... He's one year older than me, and, basically, when he retires I will retire. I promised him I wouldn't retire before he does and vice versa."

Ouellette also works on call and one morning a week in the same day surgery department at Spencer Hospital.

Her long-standing involvement with SCT is another activity Ouellette holds close to her heart. She was introduced to the community theater by her daughter, who tried out for a play as a middle school student.

"I've been on stage. I've done tech work. I've been assistant director. I've been president of the board. I've been the chief basement cleaner and prop painter. I've pretty much done anything there is to do there. ... There's just so many ways that you can contribute there," Ouellette, who was named SCT Volunteer of the Year in 1996, said of SCT.

The local theater has also become a three-generation family tradition. Aria Pierce, her 8-year-old granddaughter, is readying to play a turtle in "A Year With Frog and Toad," which will open at 7:30 p.m. June 25. Additional SCT Children's Theatre performances of the play are scheduled at 7:30 p.m. June 26-27 and at 2 p.m. on June 28.

Ouellette, who is assisting with costumes for the production, reported she's developed friendships, as well as skills and artistic talents, through her SCT involvement over the years.

"You develop your artistic talents, many of which you didn't even know you had. I've learned painting techniques there that I've used at home," she reported.

The active SCT volunteer also finds herself looking forward to the groundbreaking ceremony, which has tentatively been scheduled in conjunction with the Aug. 19 member/volunteer appreciation night. Ouellette is also eagerly anticipating the upcoming year's traveling productions theater members and volunteers will perform while the new SCT addition is being built.

Which ties into her passion for traveling. Besides getting together with her friends from 1968 two or three times a year, Ouellette attends a urology nursing conference every other year and spends a few days either before or after it sightseeing. She has a friend she enjoys visiting different places with. To date, they've been to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando and Denver. Ouellette saw the sites in New York City and Washington, D.C. with another friend the year they both turned 50. Last year, she met up with her sister from Los Angeles and her brother from Arizona in New Orleans. Before touring the city, the trio worked on a Habitat for Humanity house.

Ouellette's face lit up with a smile as she recalled visiting San Francisco recently, and then renting a car to see Monterey, Lake Tahoe, Sonoma County and Napa Valley. Just as happens on nearly every trip she takes, Ouellette ran across somebody she knew during a random stop at a pumpkin farm near Napa Valley. Former Spencer-based artist and musician Chad Elliott told of the chance sighting last winter, during the songs and paintings presented at Arts on Grand.

Birthright, which is marking its 25-year anniversary in Spencer this year, is another thing Ouellette gives of her time and efforts. She first became involved in the local center while it was being formed. She readily recalled the first office, which was in the basement across from Spencer Bowl in the Gateway North Center, as being "noisy," but filled with caring, energized supporters.

"We believe it's the right of every pregnant woman to give birth and the right of every child to be born," Ouellette, the Spencer Birthright volunteer, said.

The emergency pregnancy service volunteers give free pregnancy tests and counseling to any woman who walks in the door. They also answer, as well as financially help sponsor, the toll-free Birthright telephone number that often serves as the first contact with clients.

"I became one of the telephone volunteers at the beginning," Ouellette also recalled. "We did fundraisers. We had no money. I remember one of our first get-togethers: We were trying to put out this newsletter and we'd scratched enough money together to get it printed. Everyone came with their phone books and their list of names and addresses, and we brought envelopes and stamps because there was no money for stamps. So, we managed to get the first newsletter out."

Spencer's Birthright center has gained momentum ever since, moving into its current location at 8 E. Fifth St. in 1999. Ouellette compares her involvement with the volunteer nonprofit organization to her participation with SCT.

"I've done everything from being a telephone volunteer to helping with fundraisers. I've been the co-director. Right now, I'm the secretary and the treasurer. But, it's something I've done continuously ever since the Spencer site was started," she said.