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Narrative Summary
Interview with Nancy L. Curry by Leslie Beavers
Nancy L. Curry was born in the 1940s to both J. Curry and L. Curry in Franklin County,
Kansas. She and her two brothers were raised by their mother and father in the Methodist
religious tradition. Nancy’s parents were people of faith who practiced their religion daily, and
Nancy feels that her own faith is very comparable, and of equal importance, to that of her
parents. She has made every attempt to be as steadfast in their faith as they were.
Her parents felt it was very important that both she and her brothers were raised in the
church, and they saw to it that they were. Nancy’s father was a miller, and the government
during WWII wanted him to work in the mills so that the country could keep producing flour.
Because of the long hours required of the millers, he was home in the evenings but not on the
weekends. It then fell to Nancy’s mother to get both her and her brothers to church and to
Sunday school each week. They did not miss church for anything, and they often prayed in the
home. Once the war was over, Nancy’s father was able to get back to regular hours and could
once again join his family at church. Nancy remembers her father’s sacrifice most from her
early years.
Coming from such a steadfast family, Nancy does not remember not ever believing in
God, and it is something that she has thought about long and hard. She and her brothers were
both enrolled in an infant class called “the Cradle Role” at Trinity United Methodist church, and
it was designed to give all of the infants of the church a good, loving start to their life. Having
been immersed and born into her religion from her very birth, Nancy does not remember a time
in her life that she did not believe, and she believes her brothers would say the same thing.
Adding to Nancy’s solid upbringing, she recalls that she and her family would pray before meals
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and that her mother would read scriptures to them. During Christmastime, they would gather as
a family around the piano to play and sing carols and have a fun time. These holidays were an
important part of their religious practice and their lives.
Bible school also played a large part in Nancy’s religious upbringing, and she remembers
it fondly. It was a big part of her hometown community, since all of the kids that she went to
school with attended Bible school during the summer. There, Nancy could visit with her friends,
participate in fun activities, and of course have Bible lessons. Nancy attributes this community
participation to the fact that she grew up in a time when there were no televisions or internet; the
community was what they had. Nancy has very fond memories of this time, and thinks it was a
really great way to grow up. She feels that her sense and love of community was developed
during this time, and she even feels a sense of cohesiveness to this day among her high school
classmates because they had bonded through community youth activities such as Bible school.
Nancy recalls both her father and her mother being religious role models for her during
her early years. Her father was the kind of man who would drop everything to help someone in
need. He would fix things around the person’s house, lend a pair of hands to fix a vehicle,
donate blood to someone in need, and even loan out his tools. Nancy’s mother taught Sunday
school, was active in the PTA, and she even saved up money throughout the year to buy
thoughtful Christmas presents for those who did not have a family or any family nearby. They
were both loving and giving people, Nancy attests, and she believes that she gets her need to help
other people from them.
Even as Nancy grew up and went off to college, her faith has remained steadfast and
strong, maturing as she has. She has never once doubted her faith. She explained that when you
are raised as she was, it always seems natural to believe. In college, she went to church on
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Sunday mornings and then she would have the rest of the day to study, hang out with friends, etc.
She did the same thing in graduate school, going to church on Sunday morning and having the
rest of the day to herself. She explained, “I wouldn’t miss for anything. It has become a part of
me.” Attending church remains a major priority for Nancy, even while traveling.
When asked what makes her feel most religious or spiritual, Nancy explained that her
faith is simply part of what she does ––what she has always done. Each morning she gets up, has
coffee, and then does her daily prayers and devotions. If, for some reason, Nancy cannot
perform this ritual, she feels amiss for the remainder of the day because her faith and rituals have
become a part of her; it is her lifestyle. She involves herself in positive activities around the
Springfield, Missouri community, working with two organizations called “Sole Food” and
“Friends Against Hunger” to provide packed meals to hungry people all over the world. This
work makes Nancy feel good, and it also makes her feel good to be religious, to worship, and to
pray. She explains that this work and her faith arm her with the confidence to enable her to do
what she needs to do.
In times of difficulty, Nancy turns to prayer to get her through. She recalls one time in
graduate school, when she was giving a presentation of her dissertation for a committee. At this
event, two members of the committee did not like each other and were arguing and shouting
back and forth while she was trying to give her presentation. While this was happening, another
committee member pulled her outside the room to talk to her and reassure her. After that, she
went back in and while everyone was getting situated, she prayed that the two members would
cease their arguing and let her complete her presentation in good time. In this stressful time,
Nancy really relied on prayer to get her through. She has found that if she can withdraw and
pray, she finds clarity and she is somehow directed to a solution to her problem; that is what she
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has done for years.
Nancy has also taken on responsibilities at her own church––Schweitzer United
Methodist Church–– here in Springfield. She teaches Sunday school, teaches Bible school in the
summer, and she is also the church treasurer. Each Monday morning, she and a group of six
people gather at the church to count the offerings from the previous day’s services. She became
the treasurer when she was asked by her church’s financial assistant to fill the position. Nancy
had taken care of the money at the church bazaar in previous years ––she had also just retired
from teaching in the physical education department at Missouri State University–– so she prayed
about it and then ended up taking the job. She has enjoyed her time as treasurer and as a Sunday
school teacher immensely because she loves seeing how things work in the church, and she also
loves working with young people and their fresh ideas. She was asked to be a co-teacher of a
Sunday school class (then only comprised of six or eight people), and now Nancy has forty-five
people in her class. She really enjoys teaching the Bible to her students. She explains that the
class is a wonderful support group, coming together in times of need to help each other out. Her
students reach out and take care of people as a community, and Nancy finds that very attractive
and comforting.
In addition to working as a teacher and treasurer of the church, she also works at her
church’s food pantry. The church pantry feeds many, many people as well as supplying nine
other food pantries in Southwest Missouri. Nancy feels that it really puts a face to the poor, and
she talks about her experience at another organization for the needy called the Missouri Hotel.
She remembers one young woman who came in needing food because her daughter was coming
home the next day. After Nancy and the other volunteers took care of her, she ended up crying
and expressing her gratitude as she went out the door. Nancy was visibly moved as she told this
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story, explaining that those situations happen all the time and we just do not think about the
struggles of others in our community. Nancy really enjoys helping such people, but she does not
preach to others. She has always believed that actions speak louder than words, and so she will
give her advice to family and friends if they ask, but if they do not take it she will not be
offended. Nancy tries not to tell people what to do because she thinks that when it comes to
religion, it is counter-productive. She thinks if people are going to be religious, they will come
to religion when the time is right for them and when they decide to do it. Nancy says that she
was never forced to be religious as a child, but rather she wanted to be religious because it was
fun. Religion has never hampered her life in any way; it’s been a very helpful thing.
Nancy has never felt that being a woman has been a detriment to her, either. She has
always been able to do as she pleases in her faith and she believes that people listen to what she
has to say just as much as they would listen to what a man has to say. There is only one instance
she can think of where her gender was detrimental, but it was not detrimental in a religious way.
She recalls a story about when she was a teenager working as a lifeguard at a country club. They
had hired her and she had been working there for two or three summers, and then one day her
boss called her to tell her she had been let go. She had been let go because another country club
members’ son wanted the job, even though he was not as qualified as Nancy. The discrimination
she experienced was more a product of the time rather than discrimination because she was a
woman of faith. In her church, she has never felt discrimination for being a woman. In fact,
many women hold roles of responsibility in her church and they have even had women pastors.
If asked for advice about spirituality or religion, Nancy would say that you need to go on
your own personal quest. She personally finds religion and its practice very comforting and
fortifying, but she says that does not mean everyone else will. She believes that religion and
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spirituality are worth looking into, because she undeniably believes in a higher power and feels
that it is obvious by looking around that a higher power exists. She does not discredit other
religions; she rather sees them as having similar aspects that she can respect. Nancy believes
that religion and spirituality need to be a personal search and they are well-worth the time and
effort.
Nancy L. Curry is truly an inspiring individual who has remained steadfast in her faith
her entire life. She works tirelessly each day to give back to the community she lives in, whether
it is by teaching Sunday school, doing the banking for her church, volunteering her time at the
church pantry, or collecting shoes to be sold in order make packaged meals for the hungry. Her
kindness, patience, and understanding when it comes to religion is extraordinary, and she is truly
a delight to get to know.
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