Narrative Summary
Interview with Nancy Lewis by Trisha Counce
Nancy Lewis was born in the 1930s in Missouri. She was raised as a Protestant in the
Presbyterian and Methodist churches. When Nancy became a bit older, she and some of her
friends decided to go to Christmas Mass at the local Catholic Church; it became a tradition
within the group. Every time she went to Mass, she felt that she was missing something, like she
wasn’t getting the whole picture. This tradition was the spark that began her journey on the road
to Catholicism.
In high school, she began dating a boy named J. Lewis; he enlisted in the military, and it
wasn’t long before he was stationed in Japan. On his leave, he came back and asked Nancy to
marry him. The wedding was planned for his next leave, six months away, but he soon phoned
bearing bad news. He was not going to be able to obtain permission to leave in time for the
wedding. Broken-hearted, Nancy told her parents and got an unexpected answer. Her mom
looked up and asked, “Would you like to go to Japan to get married?” So Nancy flew to Japan to
marry the one she loved. They were married by a Protestant chaplain on Valentine’s Day, but
Nancy still felt like she was missing something.
A couple of years later, they moved to Alaska where Nancy gave birth to her first child.
Nancy had a friend who had given birth around the same time. This friend asked Nancy if she
needed a babysitter during the day so that Nancy could take classes to learn about converting to
Catholicism. Nancy, of course, said yes. She discussed the talks she and her friend would have
about Catholicism when Nancy returned to pick up her child after those classes. These long,
inspirational, meaningful talks are what caused Nancy to realize that Catholicism was the answer
to the missing part of her. Although Nancy was inspired by these talks and desperately wanted to
follow the Catholic religion, she and her husband decided to wait and convert after their children
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were raised. After her second child was born, Nancy wanted a change. She explained to her
husband that they were both given the opportunity to grow up in a church home; therefore, she
felt their children should be allowed to have that same opportunity.
Nancy soon told her parents of her and her family’s fresh pursuits to become Catholic.
With both parents being firmly grounded in their Protestant faiths, they were repulsed by her
decision, and disowned Nancy and her family. Not too long after this, her parents sent her a letter
full of disapproval and disappointment. Nancy loved her parents and sent them a letter back
stating that, “they had given [her] everything that they could possibly give [her] and that they
were excellent parents, wonderful parents, but that there’s just the one thing that they could not
give [her.] Only God could give that to [her.]” After sending back her reply, and despite her
parents’ rejection towards her change in religious belief, she forged on, in hopes of learning
more about her religion and finding joy in her new perspective of the Christian faith.
When talking about doubt in her religion or faith, Nancy wanted it to be clear that there
was none. Although she has experienced two deaths in her immediate family, her five-year-old
daughter and her husband, she stands firm in her faith. She is more focused on where the two are
now, Heaven, and that consoles her. She has never faltered in that area of her spiritual journey,
one that most struggle with, and by that I was truly inspired. Even though she has never faltered,
she did share one story of something that occurred within her church that caused her great pain.
After her eleventh pregnancy in 11 years, she gave birth to her youngest son of seven children.
While she was in labor, the doctor warned that she could possibly bleed to death before she had
him. So, after he was born, Nancy believed she had done her part in producing seven children
and elected to go on birth control. Since birth control is not an acceptable item for those within
the Catholic Church, her priest at the time would not allow her to take Communion. Nancy was
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exceedingly hurt by this ruling, but yet again found the good in a bad situation. She realized that
she was almost more blessed because she was able to focus on spiritual communion. She said,
“When people would go up to have Communion, I would just kneel and take it. And the Holy
Spirit would just be there for me, and somehow I got to feeling like spiritual communion was
almost as good as the traditional—the real body and blood of Christ.” With this amazingly
positive outlook, Nancy’s church received a new priest who allowed her to partake in
communion once again.
Nancy’s heart aches to have her children follow a religion, especially Catholicism, but
she says, “You have to follow your own heart and what you feel is right [. . . .] I was able to
make my own decision and they need to make their own decision.” She lives with this mentality
day by day, in hopes that her children will one day come to a faith.
Nancy Lewis is a strong, devout, and inspirational Catholic woman. She is a leader in the
church and is involved in almost any extra committee one could think of in her church. She
makes rosaries and prayer shawls for the sick and those in need of healing. She emanates love
out to every soul she meets, and she shines with God’s loving kindness. She is a strong advocate
for women taking on roles in their church community and feels that “without the women in the
church, they’d never get things done.” Nancy continues to grow in her faith each and every day.
She loves her church community and has a deep and unfailing passion for Christ. I am extremely
grateful that I was able to meet this amazing woman, and I am sure that God rejoices in his
creating her each and every day that she lives to further his kingdom.
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