Nancy Lee Davis (Azzam) Wertenberger
Nancy Lee Davis (Azzam) Wertenberger passed away suddenly from this life on June 19, 2023 at a skilled nursing facility in Reno, Nevada. She was 88 years old. As her grandson Jason said, “She is now kicking up gold dust in heaven.”
Nancy was born October 25, 1934, in Fresno, California, to parents Charles Paul Davis and Beulah Frances (Clark) Davis. She had an older sister Betty Ruth Davis, and has a surviving younger sister Helen (Honeylou) Davis Whitaker of Camarillo, California.
Nancy was raised in the Sacramento area, but happily spent her summers at the family ranch in Riverdale, California. She attended Sacramento schools, graduating from C. K. McClatchy High School on June 11, 1952. Not long after graduation, she married Egypt native Hassan Ahmed Azzam on August 4, 1953, in a civil ceremony in Reno, Nevada. Nancy liked to joke that she received her “PhT” (“putting hubby through”) as Hassan pursued his PhD in Agriculture; she worked in various jobs such as the records department in Berkeley, California. They moved to Corvallis, Oregon, for Hassan’s doctorate program, and that is where her first son Sami was born in 1957. When Sami was only three weeks old, the family moved to Puerto Rico so Hassan could teach at the University of San Juan. It was in Puerto Rico that her next two children, Tania (1960) and Rami (1961) were born.
Tragically, Hassan died on November 23, 1965, and Nancy chose to move with her three young children back to the Sacramento area near her dad. While living in Sacramento, mutual friends arranged for Nancy a blind date with Louis Wertenberger. This led to a romance and eventual marriage on October 27, 1967, in Reno, Nevada. Nancy pursued her AA degree (which she fondly called her “Always Alert” degree) at Sacramento City College with a focus on childhood development, graduating on June 14, 1968. It was not long afterwards that the family moved to Roseville, California, near the Granite Bay area. Nancy worked as a teacher’s aide at Greenhills Elementary School there.
Circumstantially, Louis’ children (Evelyn, Glinda, Larry, Lesley) came to live with the family while in Roseville, leaving Nancy to work part-time at a school while being a full time homemaker to her husband and seven children. Due to various job changes for Louis, Nancy later moved several times in the next few years — living in California cities Porterville, Oakhurst, Central Valley near Redding, and back to Roseville; two cities in Colorado, Craig and Montrose; and Reno, Nevada. During this time, she worked as a fabric store clerk, Avon salesperson, and school teacher aide.
Eventually she settled in Quincy, California, for 33 years and worked for a time as the greeting card person at the (then) Thrifty store. She also volunteered at PAWS, taking care of cats, and was an avid quilter, donating many baby blankets to the hospital to be given for newborns. She was very active in the First Baptist Church (now Quincy Community Church) teaching preschool, Sunday school, and a women’s Bible study, contributing furniture and decor to the church, and making banners for the church to display. Nancy also adored her pets and was often seen walking her dogs all around the East Quincy area.
Nancy is survived by five children: Evelyn Wertenberger, Larry Wertenberger, Sami Azzam (and wife Laura), Tania Azzam Hutchins (and husband Daryl), Rami Azzam (and wife Kimberly). She is also survived by 10 grandchildren: Rebekah Beatty, Drake Wertenberger, Cassandra Azzam Kimmery (and husband Pete), Kyle Azzam (and wife Alex), Janae Hutchins, Bryan Hutchins (and wife Heidi), Elita Hutchins, Jason Hutchins, Christopher Azzam, and Dalton Azzam. There are also 9 great grandchildren: Kayley, Aubrey, Parker, Carly, Remi, Logan, Lenora, Maverick, and Josiah.
A Celebration of Life for Nancy will be held Saturday, August 19th, at 1:00 pm at Springs of Hope Christian Fellowship at 59 Bell Lane, Quincy, California. In lieu of flowers, donations can be given to Quincy Community Church (formerly First Baptist Church) in her honor. The address is P.O. Box 18 Quincy, CA 95971.
Nancy was a lovely lady with a great sense of humor….she will be missed by those of us who knew & loved her.
The obituary mentioned Nancy often being seen around town walking her dogs. There actually was a three or four month when you could pull up Google maps and do a street view near her house, and one of the street views actually showed Nancy walking her dog.
Nancy was such a nice person, always friendly and cheerful. She will be missed.