Nancy McMeans Richey

Died Aug. 5

San Antonio

Nancy McMeans Richey, the fifth woman editor of The Daily Texan, died  Aug. 5 in San Antonio, Texas.

Nancy, who was born in Sandusky, Michigan, on Sept. 11, 1932 and spent her childhood in Michigan, Colorado and Texas. Like many children of the Depression, she became an industrious, hard-working and frugal woman.

She attended and was graduated from the University of Texas, and was elected editor of The Daily Texan.

Well-known journalist and UT journalism instructor Griff Singer was a classmate of Nancy and worked with her on The Texan through the Willie Morris reign.

“Nancy McMeans Richey was a soft-spoken yet effective leader,“ Singer said. “She was quite a contrast to the editor she succeeded; Willie Morris loved nothing more than fights with the UT administration. Nancy and her crew returned some calm and stability to The Texan offices after some very trying days and months. For a brief period, life was moderating on the U.S. Homefront. The Korean War was behind us and for a brief period, life on college campuses was, well, life like you would expect on a campus. Even Panty Raids were gone at UT by 1957.”

Nancy was a regular at the annual Friends of The Daily Texan dinner. “Each year, after the date was announced, Nancy would call me and place a ticket order to the dinner for herself, her son and his wife to attend the event,” said John Reetz, president of Friends of The Daily Texan, Inc. “She was a faithful attendee and always a supporter of the Friends group and The Daily Texan.”

During her time at UT,  she made many friends and was elected the fifth woman editor of the Daily Texan. While there, she met and then married Charles Irwin Richey. The marriage ended in divorce.

She worked with American Writer A.C. Green and with many prominent men in the history of the University of Texas, including Harry Ransom and J. Frank Dobie. In 1976, she worked as assistant to the president at Boston University for John R. Silber after he left Austin.

Her career milestones included work at bookstores, a clandestine nonprofit dedicated to protecting reproductive rights in the time before Roe v. Wade, a public television station, and various university think tanks.

She delighted in knowing that editing in a particular field did not require an initial expertise, but that an expertise came later. Ultimately, she created her most rewarding work as a freelance editor and writer, editing books, manuscripts, and other publications from the university community and other organizations.

She is survived by her elder son, Crispin Martinez, married to Ricardo Martinez, and her younger son David Richey, his ex-wife Rachel Thiesmeyer, her grandchildren Miranda and Ursula Thiesmeyer and Iain Richey, two brothers, Alex (Margaret) and Kent (Marilyn) MacDougall, two nephews, Michael and Kyle MacDougall, and a niece, Dyan Penny, as well as her great nieces and nephews.

A memorial will be held on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 10 a.m. on the north bank of the shallow end of Barton Springs Pool in Zilker Park.

A quotidian visitor to Barton Springs, she loved her pool. Gifts in her memory can be made to Save Our Springs.