Nancy and her husband, Joe, moved to Fountain Hills with their son, Stefan, in 1987.

Soon after, she transitioned from a career as a medical lab manager to accounting, earning a BS in accounting from ASU, passing the CPA exam, and obtaining her CPA certification after fulfilling the required experience.  

Beginning in 1989, she was active in getting the Town incorporated and chaired the Citizens for Self-Government (Incorporation) Strategy Committee. A few years after the town became incorporated, she co-chaired Fountain Hills Jr./Sr. High School Bond Passage Committee.

Always active in the community, she also served on the Golden Eagle Foundation’s Board of Trustees, was treasurer of the Fountain Hills Library Association, secretary of the PTO, co-chaired the holiday lighting of luminarias, and chaired the first Halloween Festival. She is also a supporting member of various community organizations.

In 2015, she formed the Fountain Hills Dark Sky Association along with Joe and other dark sky enthusiasts to get the Town designated an International Dark Sky Community. After working several years along with other board members to fulfill the required criteria, the Town was awarded the International Dark Sky Community designation in January 2018. Shortly after getting the designation, Nancy, Joe, and other members of the Fountain Hills Dark Sky Association board considered what else could be done to educate others about the importance of dark skies.

Meetings with community stakeholders – council members, Chamber and School representatives and other community leaders – were held and the consensus was to build an International Dark Sky Discovery Center (IDSDC). Through Nancy’s efforts, the IDSDC was incorporated and designated a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation by the IRS.

Preliminary architectural drawings were drafted, and fundraising began in November 2019. In April 2024, after architectural drawings were completed and a long-term lease for Town land was signed, a groundbreaking ceremony was held. Currently serving as the IDSDC’s Board Treasurer, Nancy manages the organization’s finances and actively participates in fundraising, construction decisions, and staff recruitment. She and Joe, who is the IDSDC Board President, are looking forward to the opening of the IDSDC in the fall of 2025.

Nancy and Joe share a passion for hiking. In addition to hiking numerous trails throughout the Southwest, they hiked over 400 miles of the Arizona Trail, and locally, all the trails in the Fountain Hills McDowell Mountain Preserve and McDowell Mountain Regional Park.