Since passing into spirit Jan. 7 Nancy Nordhoff’s largesse continues to bloom and thrive.
I spoke with a number of remarkable women who direct some of the non-profits founded and supported by Ms. Nordhoff. Nancy was known as a generous philanthropist, advocate for women, education, children, the environment, and promoting local economies and affordable housing, to name a few of her interests and passions.
Goosefoot, Hedgebrook, Organic Farm School, and singer/songwriter Beverly Graham, for instance, have all benefitted from seeds planted by Nancy Nordhoff.
By the way…I just read that Goosefoot is a plant with leaves that look like a goose foot. The Goosefoot webpage notes: “A goosefoot is actually a plant—of the genus Chenopodium. There are 150 varieties, many whom have leaves resembling the foot of a goose. Quinoa, beets, and spinach are edible members of the goosefoot family. The founders wanted a name that wouldn’t commit their new organization to a specific purpose, so they looked to the plant kingdom. The name has served us well as our projects have shifted over the years.”
In the stories that follow, some are reprinted with permission from their authors on Facebook. Others are from phone conversations and emails.
GOOSEFOOT WHIDBEY
Elise Miller, Goosefoot executive director since 2023. Her bio on Goosefoot notes: “For over 25 years she directed, founded and transformed nonprofits with national and international reach…to improve environmental health for vulnerable populations.”
In an email Elise wrote: “Below are some of my musings on our beloved Nancy Nordhoff.”
Island Roots Housing—a Goosefoot-incubated program that began in 2022, is spearheading construction of local workforce housing. Its first project is Generations Place, now under construction in Langley. Its website notes Goosefoot is: “…committed to long-term solutions that not only address current housing needs but also help our communities shape the future of affordable housing in Island County.”
Christine Hurley, Island Roots Housing board president, notes in an email: “Goosefoot purchased Bayview Center in 2006. I started in 2007. I was hired to begin redevelopment of the shopping center – primarily to find a new tenant for the grocery store space. After a long and unsuccessful search for another grocer, we determined that Goosefoot should own the store and partner with the Meyers Group to operate it.”
For a deep dive into Goosefoot’s 25-year history, take a look at this pdf sent by Elise Miller:
GF_25+years_General Overview_updated 05.17..2025
Following Nancy Nordhoff’s passing Jan. 7–she was born Nov. 3, 1932–Chris wrote this letter for the Island Roots Housing website:
Nancy Nordhoff, a diminutive and mighty force, has died. She was a quiet, driving and supporting force for multitudes of big ideas, organizations and individuals. Whidbey was not her only life arena, but it was certainly her most tended and beloved.
Nancy loved to build and create. Goosefoot Community Fund emerged from Nancy’s conversation about the need to preserve historic Bayview Corner and support its local businesses and the sense of community it anchored. Nancy always acknowledged her co-conspirators in her community endeavors. And Nancy further distinguished herself with her enduring commitment to her efforts.
Nancy’s influence permeated nearly every aspect of community life on Whidbey. Land preservation – was there a piece of property that Nancy couldn’t fall in love with? Environmental action. Parks. Art in all its forms. Houses of the spirit. Gardens. And politics.
As Goosefoot recommitted itself to the development of affordable housing for those who live and work on the island, Nancy and Lynn Hays (Nancy’s partner) were first in line to invest in the idea and Generations Place, its first development. Island Roots Housing emerged quickly as a bold and capable organization with Nancy’s early support.
She gave herself fully to her community, always engaging directly with individuals with ideas and challenges. She refused the idea of a staff person to handle the myriad requests for support. She enjoyed the process of learning, advising and pushing people and organizations to grow and grow up.
She was an avid gardener of all dimensions of her life, clearing, planting, nurturing and weeding and watching things grow. She gambled with gusto. She loved stacking her firewood until the end of her life. She was such a force for good and she will be so missed.
Chris first met Nancy Nordhoff in the 1980s.
“I think it’s worth saying that Nancy’s early philanthropy began in Seattle where she became a major force in many civic causes,” said Chris. “I was working at the Pike Market Clinic when Nancy agreed to become a mentor to teach us the ways of private philanthropy which led to the development of the Market Foundation which has gone on to raised more than $50 million in support of human services for the Market community.”
Later, Chris was tapped to lend her skills to Island Roots Housing.
“I stayed connected with people at Goosefoot, and I always stayed connected with Nancy,” said Chris, who has worked in AIDS prevention and has taught Community Health at the University of Washington.
“I got a call from Rose Hughes in early 2022.” Rose is the Managing Director of Island Roots Housing, with more than two decades’ experience in affordable and community housing. “Rose asked if I could show up to a meeting to talk about affordable housing. I said, sure.”
Rose also invited Chris’ partner Marlys Erickson, a lifelong fundraising professional, to join the team. Marlys now serves as treasurer and fund-raiser for Island Roots Housing.
“The board was a little cherry-picked group of people,” added Chris. “Incredible. I really love it when people are serious, and have a bias toward action. And importantly, you really sign up to work with and for the person who recruits you.”
Christine and Marlys now live in Coupeville. “Our work at Generations Place is only our first project,” Chris said as our conversation wound down. “To make a difference in affordable housing in Island County, we will be doing more work. People have given us three properties in the past six months. We have more work to do.”
Chris added later in an email: “It’s been amazing to continue to add on to the list of issues, organizations and people that Nancy fueled. Just up here in Coupeville I can think of two efforts that really wouldn’t exist without Nancy: the Friends of Ebey’s, that’s devoted to the preservation of structures in Ebey’s Reserve; and Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve, COER, that’s been legally challenging the Navy’s expanding Growler jet operations for the past 10 years.”
COER is Citizens of the Ebey’s Reserve, whose mission it is “…to protect the health and welfare of the inhabitants of the region, including the marine, migratory and endangered species, and to preserve the historic northwest communities being threatened by military jet training flights.”
HEDGEBROOK
Hedgebrook is a literary non-profit retreat for women writers that was founded by Nancy Nordhoff and Sheryl Feldman. The Hedgebrook website notes: ”In 1985, at a transformative time in her life, Seattle philanthropist Nancy Nordhoff bought a working farm on Whidbey Island overlooking Useless Bay, with a sweeping view across Puget Sound to Mount Rainier. Nancy was seeking “home,” and her intention was to live on the property. But as she walked the land, she felt it telling her it wanted to be something else: a home for more than one woman, a place for women to come and be in solitude and community.”
Since then more than two thousand women writers have stayed at one of Hedgebrook’s 17 cottages, gathered around the table with food made by local chefs, eating veggies and fruit from Hedgebrook’s garden, and finding the serene natural setting an inspiration in which to write. Its alumnae include Ruth Ozeki, writer, film maker and Buddhist priest, and Dianna MacLeod, a local playwright and former editor/publisher of Whidbey Life Magazine.
I spoke with Kimberly A.C. Wilson, Hedgebrook’s executive director. Kimberly has more than two decades’ work of dare deviling journalism experience, including work as a foreign correspondent with Associated Press, Seattle-Post Intelligencer, The Oregonian and Baltimore Sun.
Kimberly interviewed for the Hedgebrook job during the COVID epidemic. Her impression of Nancy Nordhoff?
“She was total badass,” said Kimberly. “One of the coolest people. I was interviewed by the Hedgebrook board. The final step was to meet Nancy. It was the first time I left my COVID cocoon and drove up and stayed in the cottage and took a walk on the land.”
Kimberly went on a walk with Nancy Nordhoff, who was then 88.
“She knew every part of this land,” recalled Kimberly. “Sure footed. Leaping over springs. Asking questions. All I could think was I get to know this lady. I get to work with her. Every 88 year old isn’t out making friends, yet she was exceptional. A visionary and humble in it. She didn’t seek accolades or attention. She did the hard work. She had redefined herself in middle age to define herself as she wanted to be. It showed you what it looks like to form your life to what you care about. How much impact she’s had! How many lives she’s influenced. She was widely loved, there are so many people grieving. A huge loss to the world. I will miss going to have a beer with her at the tavern. She’d order a full pint of Guinness. I’d get a baby jar. She’d look at me, like, how can you even?”
Kimberly remarked about the simple formula embedded in the Hedgebrook ethos, “…which makes a space for women writers for comfort and care. To let off their shoulders the burden. Hedgebrook is unique. Writers keep coming. All we ask is that they have dinner with each other. They make lifelong connections. They write more. They sleep better. They discover the natural world. They are fed. Something to be a part of. Whether staff, board or residents, Nancy and Sheryl made that.”
ORGANIC FARM SCHOOL
After Nancy Nordhoff passed away Jan. 7, Judy Feldman, executive director of the Organic Farm School, posted on Facebook:
“I’ve been quietly (maybe) mourning the loss of Nancy Nordhoff for the past almost-week. Yes, she was a donor to the Organic Farm School. She was my friend. But she was so much more than that. I knew that just as she would sit, have coffee, and listen to me rattle on about hopes and dreams…she did the same with countless other people. Mostly women. As she listened, she asked for clarity. She asked for financials. She asked about just how we expected to make dreams come true. We asked for support. She gave it in so many ways beyond money. And in the middle of all the asking, we laughed. We talked about baseball, about local needs, about the Growlers (navy jets), about football, about families. There was never a conversation when she didn’t ask about John (Judy’s partner), and my parents. She cared about all of us. And instead of a sense of competition amongst nonprofits, she instilled a sense of collaboration. Am I missing her already — damn straight. And yet, she lived a rowdy and full life and left in the way I want to leave…at home, surrounded by love. I miss her, but I hear her voice saying, “so what are you going to do about it?”
BEVERLY GRAHAM
And Beverly Graham, singer/songwriter, Hedgebrook alumna, and founder of Operation Sack Lunch, wrote on Facebook after learning that Nancy Nordhoff “left her skin behind:”
“We are collectively, as a Whidbey Island Community, shedding rivers of tears for the empty space left by the exit of the most remarkable woman I have ever known… besides my Mom. I only knew a tiny piece of Nancy, but her influence on me was transformational. Still working on transforming…
“Many blessings on your continued journey, beloved teacher.
https://www.beverlygraham.com/Music/mid%20air.html
“I wrote the attached song about my time at Hedgebrook… There was a pond up in the woods that we called Black Water Pond. It was pitch black, and the water looked like a monster from the deep would rise out of it, and snatch you… I hope you listen to it, and surround yourself, wherever you are in life, inside a moment of peace.
“The picture below was taken 10 years ago by our own Whidbey photo artist Michael Stadler, at a concert I was performing in Seattle. A candid side shot of Nancy. She sneaked in and I didn’t know it.”
And Nancy Nordhoff, I hope this long story reaches you in the ethers. May we remember and appreciate how you’ve shaped Whidbey Island.
***
Note: The South Whidbey Record published my story last week about Nancy Nordhoff’s passing. Because of a tight deadline, I did not send the copy out ahead of time for verification of the facts presented in the story. Some factual errors occurred that were pointed out to me by Elise Miller, executive director of Goosefoot. Mea Culpa! Elise took the time to raise my awareness in her email. I print her updates here:
1. I believe the first action of Goosefoot was to buy the Cash Store. Probably, they were in the process of purchasing that and deciding how to renovate it (the restoration was completed in 2004), they probably also helped with buying homes slated for demolition, as you mention in your article. It was also during that time that the 1914 Sears House was moved from Greenbank. Added by Chris Hurley: GCF purchased about 7 acres of property at Bayview Corner including the Cash Store. The Cash Store was renovated over two years as their house moving began.2. The Sears House was initially used by Goosefoot, but then the rooms were turned into offices for tenants to rent over the last 15+ years. It was only last August (2025) that Goosefoot moved our offices there from the Bayview School, which is owned by the South Whidbey School District. Part of moving the Sears House from Greenbank initially was not only historic preservation, but about bolstering local economic development by providing more spaces for local businesses in the Bayview Corner area.3. In the sentence “…Goosefoot also bought the former Casey’s Red Apple/Sebo’s Do It Center strip mall shopping center….”: At the time, it wasn’t “former” — Casey’s Red Apple was still operating, and of course, Sebo’s is still very much in operation (note though Goosefoot owns the Bayview Center property, Goosefoot doesn’t own Sebo’s). It was only when the Red Apple was going to go close its doors, that Chris Hurley, a former ED of Goosefoot, had the brilliant (and risky) idea of taking over that space and establishing the Goosefoot Community Grocer. The store didn’t return a profit for years, but now the net profits are invested back into the community via Goosefoot’s mission in multiple ways.4. In the next sentence, you mention “Goosefoot returns the net profits to the community via a ‘Round Up for Charity” program….” In fact, Goosefoot’s Charitable Giving Committee helps choose the nonprofits to be Round Up recipients (and now one month a year the employees of the Goose choose), but it’s the customers’ remarkable generosity that provides support for those nonprofits.5. Goosefoot — because of its unusual nonprofit/for profit business model and the fact it is designated as a Type 1 Supporting Organization nonprofit by the IRS — provides direct support for our three named supported organizations: Whidbey Island Nourishes, Whidbey Watershed Stewards, and South Whidbey at Home, as well as emergency funding where needed. We also contribute to and work in partnership with Whidbey Community Foundation — and now Island Thrift in Oak Harbor — on the Essential Needs program, which is managed by the Opportunity Council in Oak Harbor.6. Goosefoot doesn’t average giving $2.5M/year to all these nonprofits — the net profit of the Goose is only around $1.2M/year and that in part goes to Goosefoot’s operations and maintenance/capital improvements for Goosefoot’s properties. Those funds also support our programs, which include creating healthier food systems, supporting local entrepreneurs through free business workshops, and hosting community events, such as our summer street dances and Mardi Gras. Those investments in turn have a huge ripple effect by boosting the local economy with vital businesses and employment opportunities as well as building a stronger, more vibrant sense of community by bringing people together.7. The Goose Community Grocer itself also provides other community support via in kind donations to various organizations and nonprofits, including a major amount to the Good Cheer Food Bank. In addition, the Goose also distributes its food waste to local farmers to offset their expenses raising livestock.8. (emailed from Rose Hughes, Island Roots’ Managing Director) Nancy created a program in Goosefoot’s early days to help recycle houses that were otherwise being demolished as new custom homes were being built on Whidbey. In the case of the quote in the recent newspaper article about the local chiropractor who received one, the late Architect Todd Solid connected his client, who donated her home and ½ the moving funds to the program, and the young Steele family found the funds for the land and all the rest of the moving costs. Goosefoot’s role was in facilitating the donations and orchestrating the house move. With a third generation now being raised in the home, it’s an example of the continuing legacy of Nancy’s work.