Nancy Agnew, 81, was "mentor for women" at Wellesley
Nancy (Longley) Agnew, had been vice president of public affairs at Wellesley College.
Nancy (Longley) Agnew, a former Wellesley College employee and alumna, died Saturday, Oct. 24, of Alzheimer’s disease in St. Louis. She was 81.
Mrs. Agnew graduated from Wellesley College in 1950. In 1981 she rejoined the Wellesley community as the director of communications and director of corporate and foundation giving. She was the vice president for public affairs from 1985 until her retirement in 1992.
“She was, in many was, a mentor for women and girls,” said her daughter, the Rev. Lydia Agnew Speller of St. Louis. “I think Wellesley was transformative for her. It was a way for her to give back.”
Mrs. Agnew was the editor of “A Community Worthy of the Name,” a book of selected speeches by Nannerl O. Keohane, a former president of Wellesley College. Speller said her mother admired Keohane as a leader.
After her graduation from Wellesley, Mrs. Agnew worked at Look Magazine until 1952, when she was a copywriter for the New Herald Tribune. She left in 1956 to join the American Heritage Publishing Company as the director of public relations and assistant manager of the book division.
Mrs. Agnew transitioned from the publishing world to education on 1969, when she taught English at the Nightingale-Bamford School in New York. She later became the supervisor of the Upper School and director of development.
In 1966, Mrs. Angew married Mr. Agnew and raised his two children from his previous marriage to Mary Elisabeth Edes Agnew, who died in 1962. Mr. Agnew died in 1967.
Outside of her work, Mrs. Agnew enjoyed to singing and traveling. She took voice classes at The Juilliard School. She sang in church choirs, and onstage with the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony.
During her lifetime she traveled to Ecuador, South Africa, and Europe. She loved to explore islands because of she summers spent on Nantucket Island, said her daughter. “Islands were very special to her,” Speller said.
In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Agnew leaves another daughter, Rosanna Agnew LaBonte of Sherborn; a brother Robert F. of Salisbury, Conn.; a sister, Lucinda Slate of Mendham, N.J.; and four granddaughters.
A service will be held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 4, in St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Wellesley.
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