Family is the bedrock of Nancy Hanley’s life. Her parents ( top left ) blessed her with strong values and unconditional love, while her husband Lee ( top right ) was her devoted partner for nearly five decades. They are seen here at the 1995 Heart Ball, which Nancy chaired. Over the years, the couple raised three successful children. Daughters Shelley and Lisa ( above ) are shown with Nancy at the Barrow Grand Ball, which Nancy co-chaired in 2006.

newborn baby, Lisa.” It was a trying time, and not because of close quarters and 2 a.m. feedings. “It was very scary to have that concern, because Lee was at war. He was not behind a desk. He was out in the field taking fire, jumping into bunkers,” Hanley said. To pass the time productively, Nancy turned to giving back. She got involved in a church group and volunteered in the maternity ward of St. Joseph’s Hospital. “I’ve always felt good about volunteer work, about helping others and serving the community,” she said. Life-changing chapters often begin unassumingly, and this was the case for Nancy. She saw the strength and influence of her beloved mother and emulated it herself. “The hero in my life is my mother,” she said. “She developed severe rheumatoid arthritis at 20, but she never complained. Then we moved in with her and she was watching a toddler while I was volunteering. You can see the thread.” It’s a thread of giving that binds the family across generations. Nancy’s mother volunteered at Goodwill, in her church, and in her husband’s Optimist club, all of which Nancy saw and admired. That prompted Nancy to dive into volunteer work herself, which her own children would emulate years later. Happily, Lee came home from war safely and the young family settled in Phoenix to start Lee’s career. He worked in sales for Xerox Corporation and the couple soon welcomed another child, Shelley. Meanwhile, Lee and Nancy continued their philanthropy, both by volunteering and giving financially. “It was really what was in our hearts and what touched us. We were both very supportive of what each of us felt was important to support,” she said. As Lee’s career took off and the family matured, their giving evolved as well. Nancy went from volunteering for the Visiting Nurses Association to rocking babies at the Maricopa County Medical Center to joining the Heart Ball committee. “Heart disease was quite prevalent in my family. My father had heart disease, as did my grandfather and several other family members. So that was really a wonderful fit,” she said. Still, Nancy looks back in wonder when she recounts how she cut her teeth in big-stage philanthropy as chair of the 1995 Heart Ball to benefit the American Heart Association. “They were crazy to ask me to do that,” she laughed. “But it changed my life.” Over the course of the following years, other organizations tapped Nancy’s leadership and management skills. “I just want to give of myself. I love people and am gregarious and friendly,” she said, ticking off a list of organizations she has been involved with, including the Arizona Women’s Board and the Fresh Start Women ’ s Foundation. Hers was a blessed, meaningful life, as picture- perfect as the Impressionist paintings she and Lee collected. Their 48-year marriage was punctuated by wonderful trips and time spent with her son and two daughters, along with seven grandchildren who call her Nana. So it was a shock and a blow when Lee was diagnosed with an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer. “It is a devastating disease and it’s often diagnosed at a point where it is too late for a cure,” Hanley said softly. Indeed, Lee was diagnosed in June 2011 and passed away the following August. MAY 2019 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 21 COVER STORY CONTINUED