Nancy Davis Pratt

Nancy Davis Pratt passed away unexpectedly but peacefully at Willamette View on January 11, 2021, just a month short of her 93rd birthday.  Nancy was born in Carlisle, PA, where her father was teaching at Dickinson College.  During her youth, the family lived in Ithaca, NY, New Wilmington, DL, Appleton, WI, and New Brunswick, NJ.  She graduated from Highland Park High School as valedictorian.  Nancy chose to attend Wellesley College after being awarded a full tuition scholarship.  She majored in Political Science, graduating in 1949.  After college she went to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (part of Tufts University), where she met Todd Pratt, earning a Masters degree in International Relations in 1950.

Todd and Nancy married in May 1951 and their honeymoon was aboard an ocean liner sailing to Ecuador for Todd’s job with the US State Department.  The Pratts lived in Quito from June 1951 through May 1953, and their older daughter, Elizabeth, was born there in 1952.  The family returned to New Jersey, where their second daughter, Catherine was born.  They moved to Needham, Massachusetts in 1958.  While the girls were growing, Nancy renewed her childhood connections with the Girl Scouts and became active with the League of Women Voters, interests that continued for the rest of her life.  Nancy later worked at Wellesley College in the Career Office, counseling graduating students on the next steps in their lives.  In the 1980s she served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts League of Women Voters and as President of the Patriot’s Trail Girl Scout Council, leading the council in its early days and during an important capital campaign.  The Girl Scouts awarded Nancy two Thanks Badges, the most prestigious awards a volunteer can receive, given in recognition of truly outstanding work.  Nancy’s formidable organization skills were later used when she served as Moderator for the United Congressional Church of Needham and with the resident groups associated with Willamette View after the Pratts moved to Oregon in 2009.

Todd Pratt died in April 2011 and Nancy is survived by daughters Elizabeth (Philip Thor, Portland, OR), Catherine (Franklin, MA), and grandson Brent Sisson and his wife Stephanie (Castro Valley, CA).  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the League of Women Voters or the Girl Scouts.