Nancy Ann Jones Pyer passed away peacefully at Harvest Hill Memory Care Unit in Lebanon, NH, on Thursday, February 6, 2020.  She was 88.

Born on December 19, 1931, to Harry and L. Gertrude Berry Jones, Nancy was a proud lifelong resident of West Lebanon, NH.  She grew up at the top of Seminary Hill in a brick house built by her father, and was the youngest of six children.  She graduated from West Lebanon High School in 1949. She participated in the all-state glee club and orchestra and was a member of the National Honor Society.

Nancy was one of those rare people who never met a stranger, because she treated everyone as a friend.  She found a perfect partner for this caring mission in Walter F. Pyer. They married in July of 1951, and soon had five children.  Their home was filled with laughter, music, and love, and their doors were always  open to others.  Whether it was a neighborhood child who needed temporary shelter, an international exchange student , or a child from the Bronx participating in the Fresh Air program, every child found a welcoming home on the corner of Maple and Tracy streets.  After the Pyers moved to Nancy's childhood home on Seminary Hill, they welcomed  a high school student from Detroit into their fold, who truly became part of the family.

Nancy worked at Dartmouth College, Verham News, First National Store, and Montgomery Ward before starting a 25-year career as a school secretary for the Lebanon School District. In the 1970s, she volunteered to serve on the Board of the ABC (A Better Chance) Lebanon program, and was its president in 1974 when the Lebanon ABC House was the top program in academics and citizenship. She was a volunteer chaperone for the high school band's first trip to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. in 1969.

Nancy was active in the West Lebanon PTA; the West Lebanon Congregational Church, which she joined in 1943 and later served as Sunday School teacher, choir member, school superintendent, and teen coffee house chaperone; in the girl scouts council; and in the band parents organization.  After she retired from her school secretary position, she kept active volunteering at the VA Hospital, Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, the Mount Lebanon and Seminary Hill schools, the ACORN office, the LISTEN center, and  Brookside nursing home. She and Walt worked on monthly community dinners at various churches for many years, organizing, cooking, and doing whatever was needed.  She and Walt also worked as ballot clerks for every election for 20 years, "retiring" from that volunteer job in 2010. Nancy represented her class in West Lebanon alumni parades every year until 2018.

She was an active member and leader of the American Legion Auxiliary for more than 60 years, and she focused her efforts there on scholarships and helping children and adults with intellectual disabilities. In 1979 she organized the Hartford Area Special Olympics program, running the training and "fun and fitness" sessions for 125 athletes, twice a week, 50 weeks a year, for 10 years. That year she raised $21,000 to take the state's athletes to the International Games in Brockport, NY, where she was a special guest of honor. For more than 25 years Nancy and Walt organized an annual dance for young adults with intellectual disabilities, sponsored by the American Legion and its Auxiliary.

Though she never did anything for the recognition, she received many.  In 1981, she was named the Woman of the Year by the American Legion Auxiliary, and Volunteer of the Year for the Vermont Special Olympic organization. That same year, she and Walt were honored with the Humanitarian Service Award from the American Legion for their contributions to Special Olympics. The West Lebanon Alumni Association named her citizen of the year in 1994. In 2002, she was named the Lebanon Good Citizen of the Year.

Nancy taught her children the most important lesson she learned from her parents: To judge your own life by the joy and comfort you bring to others. Her father used to ask her, when tucking her into bed each night, "Did you make someone's day happier today?" She lived her life so that the resounding answer to that question was always, "yes."

Nancy is survived by sons Dale (Sandy) Pyer and Jim (Maggie) Pyer;  daughters Betty-Jo  (Dan) Duncklee, Terri  Pyer (Dave Edson), and Lori Higgins;  grandchildren Chris Pyer, Angela (Kyle) Harvey, Elisa (Scott) Jones, Geoffrey (Jessica) Duncklee, Rick (Alison) Duncklee, Andrew (Jessica) Duncklee, Tiana Pyer-Pereira, Torin Pyer-Pereira, Chase Pyer, Clay Pyer, Aubrie Gilbert, and Chelsea (Joseph) Potvin;  and 21 great-grandchildren . She is predeceased by her husband of 67 years, Walter F. Pyer, her siblings, and her foster son, Sam Owens.

Visitation hours will be held at the Knight Funeral Home in White River Junction, VT  on Monday, Feb. 24, 4 – 6 p.m.  A celebration of life service will be held at the West Lebanon Congregational Church on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 11 a.m.