Nancy Allison Wilcox

Nancy Allison Wilcox, age 86, of Bel Air, Md., passed away on Sept. 9, 2014 at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. Born in Minneapolis, Minn., she was the daughter of the late Cecil and Elsie Allison and wife of the late Lt. Col. Robert Denman Wilcox.

During her husband's career with the U.S. Army, she was one of the unsung heroes of military life in the 1960s, managing family moves from Massachusetts to two posts in Germany and finally to Aberdeen Proving Ground. She was a mentor of other young Army wives, drawing on the skills she developed early in her own career as a nonprofit executive with the Big Sisters organization in Minnesota and with the American Red Cross in Colorado, Texas and Germany. In the 1970s, she resumed her career, serving as executive director of the YWCA of Harford County for more than 10 years. She spent the 1980s supporting the work of The Johns Hopkins Hospital board of directors before retiring. She was an avid and accomplished bridge player, competing successfully in tournaments in Maryland and elsewhere in the mid-Atlantic region. She traveled extensively, visiting cities across the U.S., Europe and Asia. She was a devoted fan of the Baltimore Orioles, and was never without a book to read.

Mrs. Wilcox is survived by her sons, John Robert Wilcox and his wife, Jennifer, of Washington, D.C., and James Daniel Wilcox of Westminster, Calif.; daughter, Ann Allison Wilcox Pratt of Truckee, Calif.; brother James Cecil Allison of Rochester, Minn.; grandchild, Benjamin Cotter Wilcox; and her life companion for the past 19 years, John C. Stiles of Forest Hill.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.