Terry Lee Wells, A True Nevadan

Terry Lee Wells, a True Nevadan

It is fitting that the first legacy entry on the Nevada Women’s History Project Legacy page be that of Terry Lee Wells. 

People passing by on South Center Street in Reno, can see the sign on the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum.  They might bring their kids for a visit or drop in themselves to view a science exhibit.

Most of them probably don’t know who Terry Lee Wells was or why her name is attached to the Discovery Museum. But those who knew Terry Lee  as a child attending Reno schools, or later in life when she devoted much time to philanthropic endeavors, remember a woman who was fun loving, a little outrageous and generous.

Charles Eugene Clock

Charles Eugene ”Gene”  Clock was a man of his word. He was a man who wore plaid proudly. He brooked no nonsense in life but exhibited a subtle sense of humor to his friends who knew him best. He was an avid hunter when he was young but in later years chose fishing as his preferred sport. He loved his family, Melissa, his daughter from a first marriage, his current wife and family, Patty Kunimura Woods, daughter Wendy Woods Van Diest, and granddaughter Regan Van Diest.

Eugene Charles Clock was born on April 21, 1936 in Reno, Nevada at St. Mary’s Hospital. His parents were Ella Francis Bremenkampf and Frank Eugene Clock, Jr.  His ancestors reached back to Priscilla and John Alden at Plymouth Rock on his father’s side and to ancestor’s predating the American Revolution on his mother’s side. Gene’s maternal great grandparents came to Nevada in 1866 as they followed the traditional gold rush trail from Ohio to Virginia City, to Hamilton, to Austin to finally settling in Eureka, where his mother grew up. He used to joke that he would be “the last Clock” in his family as no male Clock produced a son on his father’s side of the family.

Elizabeth “Nell” Fozard

Maiden Name: Elizabeth Walkos
Birth Date: 12/13/1936
Birth Place: “The Patch”, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 02/14/2017

“Nell” was born in “the Patch”, a small mining community in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. She was one of six children born to miner Edward Walkos and his wife Elizabeth. She would decide at an early age that she didn’t want to be a coal miner’s daughter forever and as soon as she graduated from high school she travelled to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and began training at Saint John’s School of Nursing. Upon graduation she worked as an ER nurse, a Critical Care Nurse, a Psych nurse and in later years a Worker’s Compensation Nurse.

She met and married to Ron Fozard and in 1980, they decided to move to Carson City, NV. where Nell found employment as a Worker’s Compensation Nurse with the Nevada Industrial Commission (NIC), later to become the State Industrial Insurance System (SIIS). In 1995 she began work at St. Mary’s Hospital as a workers compensation nurse and in 2001 she moved to Physician Managed Care in Carson City where her job was worker’s compensation case management.

Bonnie Pampel Foard

Full Name: Donna Belle (Bonnie) Foard
Birth Name: Pampel
Birth Date: 10/24/1925
City: Graymont
State: Illinois
Country: United States
Date Of Death: 05/25/2020
City: Reno, Nevada
State: Nevada

Bonnie is the perfect model for aging gracefully.  Until her death she was active, vibrant, and young at heart.  Most important, in her interactions, she always made one feel as if  that person was the most important person.  Bonnie’s life was family, friends, music, and fun as shown by the following photos and articles.

More about Bonnie: See Bonnie’s biography in the NWHP Research Center.

Read more “Bonnie Pampel Foard” →

Georgette Mary Gagnon

Maiden Name: Georgette Landry
Birth Date: 02/22/1929
Birth Place: Gardner, Massachusetts
Date of Death: 10/30/2020

To her friends in Francais Entre-Nous, she was our beloved Gigi.  She enjoyed her French heritage, language and culture and her many friends.  Gigi was a shining star, but she especially sparkled when she was speaking French. She was a Co-chair of Francais Entre-Nous for ten years where she planned and executed activities and meetings.  Her wit, compassion and Yankee common sense were always with her.

Bruce James MacAnnany

Tribute’s Full Name: Bruce James MacAnnany
Birth Date: 01/14/1945
City: Mower
State: Minnesota
Country: United States
Date Of Death: 2022
City: Las Vegas
State: NV

Bruce James McAnnany was born January 14, 1945 in the town of Mower, Minnesota. His Irish father, Clifford, worked as a traveling salesman selling Ells Vacuums. His mother, Harriet, was a wife and mother. Bruce was the youngest of the four McAnnany sons (Terry, Michael, Darrel and Bruce). He attended schools in Mower, Minnesota and while in high school, he met the love of his life,  Elaine ”Shuggie” Speiltz. Graduation from high school meant nursing school for “Shuggie” and a Bachelor’s Degree for Bruce at Saint Mary’s College in Winona, Minnesota. After completing his Master’s Degree in Social Work and then working as a social worker in Cook County, (Chicago) Illinois, he married “Shuggie” Speiltz in 1970. They spent their lives together until the day she passed away in January of 2018. They were one of those couples who simply couldn’t live without each other.

Catharine Downer Sanders

Full Name: Catharine Downer Sanders
Maiden Name: Downer
Birth Date: 08/06/1935
Birth Place: Reno,, Nevada
Date of Death: 11/18/2019
Place of Death: Reno, NV

Kay (Catharine) Downer Sanders – Longtime friend of the Nevada Women’s History Project

Catharine Downer Sanders was born, Catharine Roberta Downer, on August 6, 1935 at St. Mary’s to Alice Gottschalk Downer and Robert Carpenter Downer. She was a fourth-generation Nevadan with roots back to the mining camps of the 1870s. She spent her early childhood traveling rural Nevada with her parents and younger brothers Robert Jr. and Craig while her father was an engineer for the Nevada highway department. Her love of Nevada and outdoor adventures began in these early childhood experiences, and Nevada and Nevada History, was the source of fascinating stories and fun investigations for her.