Former Washington First Lady Nancy Bell Evans has passed away

January 29, 2024 / 4:30 pm

caption: Outgoing Washington Gov. Dan Evans and his wife Nancy eye one of 24 scrapbooks put together during Evans' 12 years in office, in Olympia, Wash., Dec. 15, 1976. The fascinating collection of memorabilia includes invitations from the queen of England, warm notes from Richard Nixon, some previously undisclosed political information and irate letters, like one calling for his impeachment.

Former first lady of Washington state Nancy Bell Evans has died.

The wife of three-term Republican Governor Dan Evans, who held office between 1965 and 1977, passed away Friday night after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 90 years old.

At 31, when her husband took office, she was the youngest First Lady of Washington (and at 39, Dan Evans was the youngest Washington governor).

"I think she took on more interests in more things than was typically the case for first ladies at that time," Dan Evans told KUOW's Will James last summer. "But she was a lot younger than any first lady — she was just barely 30."

A Spokane native, Nancy certainly championed a range of issues as First Lady. She founded the Governor's Mansion Foundation; was the national chair of the First Ladies' Mental Health Month; was founder and chair of the Friends of Cancer Lifeline; and was a founding trustee of Planned Parenthood of Olympia.

The Seattle Times reports that she learned last week her breast cancer had returned for the fourth time, and had metastasized to her bones.

Evans is survived by her three sons, nine grandchildren, and her 98-year-old husband.

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