Pure Cremation Wisconsin

Nancy Graham

Nancy Coombs Graham was a feminist, optimist, and lifelong rebel. She died after a short illness on March 20, 2026, just two days shy of her 89th birthday. Born March 22, 1937, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Elizabeth (Keenan) and Walter Wilder Coombs, Nancy grew up in southwestern Wisconsin alongside her sister Lucy. From the beginning, she showed signs of becoming exactly who she would be: independent, open-minded, and unwilling to accept the world as it was handed to her.

In 1960, she married John L. “Jack” Graham, and together they raised five children: Anne, Susan, Jenifer, James (Jim), and Thomas (Tom) Graham, who grew up in a lively, practical, and occasionally semi-feral household. Nancy was a working mother before that was widely normalized, spending most of her career as a secretary at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She connected most deeply with her children once they became adults—people she could truly engage with as equals.

Nancy was, above all, a feminist and a humanist and gravitated toward most progressive/socialist causes. She felt injustice viscerally and responded with action. In the 1980s, she was a dedicated member of the Madison AIDS Support Network, outraged by the epidemic and the government’s indifference. She stood fiercely with the LGBTQ+ community, advocated for environmental protection, protested nuclear power, and participated in anti-war movements. She sang with the Raging Grannies, worked with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience (sometimes to the point of arrest). She resisted paying war taxes and did not shy away from tangling with the IRS.

Spiritually, Nancy charted her own course. A pagan and a Wiccan, she found a welcoming community among the Unitarian Universalists, where her values of inclusion, curiosity, community, and compassion felt at home.

She was also an adventurer. Aside from learning to SCUBA dive and downhill ski, Nancy rode BMW motorcycles across the United States, attending rallies and chasing the joy of the open road. She even tried racing (motorcycles) on Germany’s Nürburgring and ice racing on frozen Wisconsin lakes — because of course she did. She liked to say you could spot a happy motorcyclist by the bugs in their teeth, and Nancy had plenty.

After retirement, she took to the road again—this time in an RV, traveling solo around the country. She reveled in the freedom of going wherever she pleased and meeting new people. Nancy could get along with just about anyone, provided they weren’t prudish or judgmental. She was endlessly curious and believed deeply in the rights and dignity of all people.

Nancy was an avid reader and was rarely seen without a book or magazine in hand. She was also an optimist to her core. Stubborn and rebellious, but always able to find the silver lining. Late in life, she met Dominic Mockler in North Carolina and knew she had found the love of her life. They shared many happy years together living in Tucson and Madison, until his death from COVID in 2022. In recent months, she enjoyed the sweetness of a new love with her friend Larry.

Nancy is survived by her five children, eleven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren (and counting), as well as her sister Lucy.

Nancy lived as she believed people should: freely, curiously, and without apology. She stood up for what mattered, chased what interested her, demanded equality, loved who she loved, and refused to be small.

If you wish to honor Nancy, read something challenging, speak up when something is wrong, take the long way to somewhere new, and once in a while do something that leaves a little wind in your face and a grin you can’t quite hide.

Pure Cremation Wisconsin is assisting the family, www.purecremationwi.com

When words can't fully express what we want to say, sometimes a small gift can. Visit our Memorial Store for personalized gifts, keepsake jewelry and to plant a memorial tree.

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Nancy Graham Obituary | Pure Cremation Wisconsin