Remembering Nancy
It’s pretty crazy to look at the history of Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters and the way the Lord has exponentially grown this place. Beginning in 1997, we’ve come a long way—and Nancy McDaniel played a huge role in those formative years.
Nancy began her involvement at SWO on the Board of Directors in the early 2000s, helping to establish the DNA of this ministry. Originally from South Florida, Nancy became one of the first board members to have a hand in the pulse of this ministry. She not only understood the vision and goal of SWO, but she also understood the inner workings delicate nature of the administration side of camp. So much of her ability to understand SWO was due to the fact that she really became one of the first board members to really be involved with everyday life here. Understanding the importance of both ministry and administration in the business world is pretty difficult for most people, but not so for Nancy McDaniel.
Because she had such a heavy involvement with everyday life here at camp, she was able to spear-head the Coop project when we grew too big for our chapel. She wrote grants, talked to donors, and oversaw the project.
Tim Litchfield, our reservations coordinator, remembers Nancy as feisty. He recounted a story in which he and another girl on staff at the time, Amy, were writing a proposal for faster internet in the office. They handed the proposal to Nancy, who confronted them about a week later to discuss it. In Tim’s words, “Nancy let us have it for about 20 minutes letting us know exactly why our proposal wasn’t to be taken seriously.”
Apparently their proposal didn’t measure up to the professional standards of Nancy, so she informed them of all the things they needed to work on before writing another one. She ended the conversation by informing them that despite their best efforts, their plan to get faster internet had been approved.
A week and a half ago, Nancy McDaniel passed away, and Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters grieves her absence. Francis Chan said, “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” Nancy’s life reflected this quote. She served on the Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters board of directors for a little over 12 years. Although for the past 6 years, her health prevented her from being as involved as she once was, she still remained a part of our Board of Directors, and stayed as connected as was allowed.
Once you’re a part of the SWO staff, you’re family, permanently. We feel her loss here, but we rejoice in the fact that she invested her life in things that were of eternal value.
Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters and I are incredibly grateful for your love, support, and investment, Nancy.
We will miss you.