Nancy Williams passed away recently of a heart attack, going quietly in her sleep at the age of 83. She came to Topanga at the age of six and lived and prospered here for many decades before retiring to Reno, Nevada with her husband, John Williams. Over the years she became essential to Topanga—a fine artist and founding member of the Topanga Gallery, a loving mother to Eric and Brian, a tireless volunteer and a trustee at Topanga Christian Fellowship Church.
Nan was born to John and Harriet Swenson on May 11, 1942, in Illinois. They moved to California in 1949 so John could work in the aircraft industry. Looking for a rustic environment for their kids—Nancy, David, Willie and Jon—they moved to Topanga. Their first small cabin was on Robinson Road and reputed to be Teddy Roosevelt’s hunting cabin.
But soon they found their way to Fontaine Road and the home they lived in for the next 50 years. It was rustic indeed, with an outhouse and well water. Harriet found it hard to cook proper meals on the old kerosene stove. But it was on two oak-studded acres with beautiful views. The kids were free spirits, running through the hills, and Nancy spent her spare time caring for her little brothers.
She would walk the mile or so to the first Topanga Elementary school that later became the American Legion Hall, then Froggy’s restaurant. When it rained, Nan would sometimes hitch a ride on a passing fire engine. This rugged lifestyle sparked a lifelong love of the outdoors, and she later became a skilled hiker and skier. She was a warm, generous person. Her old friend Rebel Mayer, a couple years younger than her, says, “She taught me to drive,” stepping up when her own father couldn’t find the patience.”
As a teenager, a blonde beauty that her son Brian calls “a ten”, Nancy took a summer job in Yosemite National Park. She worked in the main office and had weekends off. So when she wasn’t working, she was hiking and meeting the regulars. She had ultimate Yosemite experiences, including the sight of the once famous Firefall—when fiery embers were sent on summer nights over Glacier Point into Yosemite Valley. With chagrin, she also remembered glissading down—and off—a cliff. She had to be carried out and hospitalized.
While she worked there, she grew to know Ansel Adams and his family. He and his wife Virginia Best ran a gallery and a studio there where he offered photography workshops. When Nancy told them that she was a potter, Virginia asked her to bring some of her pottery when she returned the next summer. Virginia was impressed and put the pieces in the window for sale. Nan must have made an impact with Ansel, because he gifted her signed photos that she kept for the rest of her life. Meanwhile, she attended college at Cal State Northridge, switching to San Francisco Art Institute to expand her artistic soul.
Eventually, she settled in Santa Monica, working at the Rand Corporation think tank and then for Sunset Magazine, both as a model and office assistant. She lived in a garage apartment near the ocean. Her life changed when she met engineer Ed DeCook and fell in love. They shared a deep love of the ocean, swimming and scuba diving together, even kayaking to dive off the coast of Santa Cruz Island.
Nancy married Ed and they settled back in Topanga up a steep drive opposite School Road. Ed became a respected realtor in the canyon and they soon had two children—Eric in 1966 and Brian in 1968. The boys consumed her. As they entered school, she became a school activist with the PTA and scouts.
Her boys say she was very hands on. Brian remembers that when he was 6 and Eric 8, they decided to build a canoe to travel down Topanga Creek from the old Sassafras Nursery to the coast. Nancy encouraged them. “We constructed the canoe out of tree branches, chicken wire, tarp and masking tape…My brother gave me the nod that it was ready to go and so we packed a lunch and said goodbye to Mom. We asked her to pick us up where the creek let out at Topanga Beach. She said she would.”
Nan followed them with a camera down to the creek and took their photo before they entered the water. “So Eric and I put the canoe in the stream and climbed aboard. We got about 5 feet and it abruptly sank…Mom just said ‘Aww. That’s too bad. Maybe you can fix it?’”
Brian continues, “I have many fond memories of being a Topanga kid in the ’70s with the best Mom ever. She let us dream big and always got behind our projects…even when our imagination far exceeded reality.”
Nancy was a social leader in the canyon then and always. Lynn Dickhoff remembers her “wonderful gatherings” often featuring her famous chili relleno casserole. She also began a long career as a landlord, renting out space in an outbuilding. She kept the rent low to attract a selection of renters, since she believed in long-term renters becoming friends.
I met Nan in 1975 when she asked me and my husband to lead a new Cub Scout den since hers was overloaded. We had just arrived in Topanga, and she reached out with her warm hands and brought us into the community. We hiked and played ball with our cubs, and took them to the snow to sled. Some saw it for the first time. Nancy was tireless and led the way in it all.
She introduced us to her folks. We grew to love Harriet. I remember her most on the piano, swaying to Gershwin. Eventually, she became piano teacher to all three of our kids and we attended her fabulous jazz parties. Nancy’s dad John helped us save our bridge from the flood of ’78. Meanwhile, Nan earned her own realtor’s license and entered a new career, choosing to only work with close friends.
Also in the 70s, Nancy was called on to care for her husband Ed as well as her kids. He was struck with heart disease, and fought it for many years. Ed was one of the earliest disciples of the Pritikin program of diet and exercise. Though he became much fitter, he finally succumbed to a heart attack in 1980. He went out swinging, jogging down Old Topanga with Nancy at his side. She did CPR and called the paramedics.
After his death, she threw herself into her volunteer work—for Topanga Community Club and the school. When the school was slated for closure in the late 70s due to low enrollment, Rick Moos invited the LAUSD Superintendent to his home. Nancy prepared a hand-painted relief map, showing Topanga’s rugged terrain and narrow, winding roads. Having driven up on a stormy night, Johnson needed little more to decide that Topanga Elementary should remain open.
In 1981, at a gathering at our home, Nancy’s life changed forever when she met John Williams. We were living in Culver City at the time. John stood mesmerized as he watched the very athletic Nancy move smoothly in our pool. It was love at first splash. They started dating, finally moving in together on Valentines Day, 1983. They were a perfect couple—loving and supportive with each other and with the boys. Nancy had retired her paint brush to care for her kids and Ed. It was John who set up a spare room in their home as a studio for Nancy, bringing in all the equipment.
She had a renaissance and began painting with gusto. Over the years, she crafted dozens of watercolors, including a fine night vista with the Hale Bopp comet shining, several views of the 1993 Topanga fire, her beloved Matilla poppies, Red Rock crags, yucca in bloom. Over the years, she showed at the Ansel Adams Studio, and galleries in Jerome, Arizona; Franklin Canyon and Pepperdine University (where some of her paintings still hang).
In 1989, Jim and Sue Sullivan started the New Topanga Canyon Gallery in Topanga Town Center, moving to Pine Tree Circle in 1995. Nancy was a board member, featured in many shows. Her paintings now hang in homes all over Topanga. When asked what her influences were, she said, “Where I live.”
Meanwhile, Nancy’s boys moved up and out. Eric put his fine building skills to work, eventually becoming a licensed contractor He currently lives in Santa Barbara. The ocean-loving Brian took another route, eventually starting his own surfing school in Hawaii.
Nancy also took on another major job – as assistant to the President of Pepperdine University, a role she held for many years. She and John also moved, into the historic Spanish-style home once occupied by another Topanga legend —Rich Dehr, the folk song guru who wrote classics like “Greenfields” and “Memories Are Made of This.” Of course, Nancy knew him and his wife Marge, spending time in their home in her teens while dating their son. She loved the house, which included the property where the iconic Hidden Treasures stands, so she and John snapped it up. John, who was commuting to Point Magu Naval Base each day to work as an airplane mechanic, still spent his spare time with Nancy, renovating the home and creating stunning gardens.
Speaking of gardens, Patricia Moore-Joshi, a long-time leader at Topanga Christian Fellowship Church, lauds John and Nan as “our gardening angels”. Nancy, long a trustee, joined with John each Saturday to work on the church property, mowing and growing, so it was always ready for Sunday service.
They were sorely missed when they moved to Reno to start anew. They had a lovely life together there—good friends, good neighbors, a beautiful view from their patio of snow-capped mountains, work in the garden, walks on the Truckee River with their dog. It was idyllic. But Nancy never forgot her Topanga roots and stayed in touch with all her friends here.
After her death, I received a card from her, sent to me since I was undergoing a minor procedure. It reads, “Strong—that’s you. Here for you—that’s me.” Adding, “I miss you!” Well, my dear Nancy, we will all miss you so much. Nancy is survived by her husband John, her sons Eric and Brian and her brother David and his wife Laura, now living in Ventura. The family plans to have a Topanga memorial for Nancy sometime in the future.
~Written by Michelle Johnson
Nancy and John Williams in the Sierras
A later photo of Nancy and John
Jon Swenson, Brian, Nancy, Eric and his wife Suzanne.
Photo courtesy of Michelle Johnson and Brian DeCook
The Swenson family: John and Harriet Swenson with David,
Nancy, William, and John. 1952 https://topangahistoricalsociety.org/archive/document/261
Nancy Swenson on Robinson Road—Harriet and John Swenson’s oldest
child Nancy sits on the stoop of their Robinson Road rental, reputed hunting
lodge for Teddy Roosevelt. 1949 https://topangahistoricalsociety.org/archive/document/257
Members of Topanga Canyon Gallery (New Canyon Gallery) Members
of the Topanga Canyon Gallery steering committee: Rebecca Catterall,
Meredith Miskowich, Sue Sullivan, Nancy Swenson Williams, Barbara
Anahita King, Penny Chavez. 1998 https://topangahistoricalsociety.org/
archive/document/682
This beautifully written tribute evokes a bright, fascinating life. Thank you for sharing Nan with a broader audience, including readers who did not know her. May she rest in peace.