Nancy Dawson

Nancy Dawson's epic life ended June 20, 2026 after complications from a stroke. Her last days were spent surrounded by family, music, art, dance and so much love.

She was born in Ogden, Utah in 1937 to Andrew and Lucille Isakson and was the oldest of four children. She was a resident of Ogden, UT, Evanston, WY, Cheyenne, WY and Tubac, AZ, and in her final two years, Fort Collins, CO. Her favorite place in the world was her families' lake cabin in Laketown, UT and she spent some of the best moments of her life hanging out there with family and friends.

Nancy's adult life was spent in a variety of career pursuits. She was an elementary education teacher,an adult education teacher at a state mental hospital, an education director at the Wyoming Women's Prison, domestic violence director(all of these in Evanston, WY) and later, was the director of domestic violence programs for the state of Wyoming(in Cheyenne, WY) until she retired. She was also a key organizer of the Silent Witness Project in Wyoming which remembered and honored those killed from domestic violence in Wyoming. Her work with people in prisons was something she was especially proud of and she wanted that work to be remembered. She fought for justice throughout her life and instilled this value in her kids and grandkids.

Outside of work, Nancy had many valued friendships and interests. She loved socializing and having parties throughout her adult life. Through this, she found so many treasured friendships in each place she lived. Nancy was an avid researcher into things like numerology, tarot cards, energy work and other supernatural studies of things unseen. Through these pursuits, she found treasured friend groups that shared these interests in both Evanston and Tubac.

In addition to all of these other interests, Nancy found art later in life and loved collaging, painting, and painting rocks. Throughout her life, she loved to write and share stories and unique insights about her family and childhood. She also loved live music and one of her favorite things was listening to live music at Little Bear in Cheyenne and Tubac Golf Resort in Tubac.

For the first half of her adult life, she raised three children, Andrea, Eric and Alison with her husband of 32 years, Ryley Dawson in Evanston, Wyoming. During the last half of her life, she found her partner, Judy Uphoff, who she was with for 32 years until the time of Judy's death in 2023. Judy and her traveled extensively and had a great post retirement life in Tubac, AZ.

Finally, Nancy was a mother of three kids, Andrea(Mike), Eric(Jana) and Alison(Renee), seven grandkids, Ryan, Patrick, Ryley, Lucy, Dylan, Lauren, and Frida, and five great grandkids(and another on the way!). She loved all of them fiercely and was so proud of them. Her kids and grandkids will remember many hours playing cards, talking and sharing stories, putt putt golf, hanging out at the lake cabin, making Christmas cookies, and so much more.

She lost her beloved sister, Anna and her beloved partner, Judy in the past three years. These losses weighed heavily on her and she is now flying free to join them in the afterlife. She will live on in her family, in her friends, and in the countless lives she touched.

The family would like to thank the people at Turnberry Place Assisted living, Riverside Home Care, and Pathways Hospice for outstanding care in her last days. Service announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, Nancy would love for people to donate to League of Women Voters, ACLU or any other organization that is working to fight this current presidential administration which she saw as a grave threat to all the progress she fought for throughout her life.