Nancy (Rutherford) Sleight

After high school, I attended Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri. My most thrilling experience there was performing excerpts from Swan Lake, including Odette and Odile solos, the four little swans, and the Mazurka and Czardas. Because I ran out of math classes at Cottey, I transferred to Seattle Pacific University as a sophomore and graduated in 1977 with a B.S. in Mathematics, minors in German and Education, and a secondary teaching certificate. While at SPU, I enjoyed participating in the Gymnastics team and the Falconettes women’s service honorary.

After a Christmas season in Sears' warehouse with WS Alumna Rose Belanich, I skied two months in the Rockies with my sister Susan (WS ’70), going "steeper and deeper." Arriving home, the Seattle Branch Manager of IBM asked me to apply and hired me as a Systems Engineer in the IBM Seattle banking/insurance/phone company marketing Branch. In other divisions, I did some programming, including some development and testing of Pacific Northwest Bell's first automated Directory Assistance system, resigning in June of 1988 to raise children.

Dick Sleight (’73) surprised me at "The Cotton Patch Gospel of Matthew" play at SPU in September 1980 and we married the following March. The summer of 1988, niece Debbie Sleight helped care for Ann (born February 1987). That July was a marathon month of typing and editing husband Dick's 283-page dissertation, for which he won the best dissertation award in the UW College of Education. Nathanael (born January 1989) joined us at Dick's graduation and award presentation. Jean was born in December of 1992 amidst the building of a house we designed and I drafted to scale (my dad was a Mechanical Engineer with Boeing). Our two older kids helped me pick up nails, etc., and since I was our General Contractor, we moved in to the new house in mid-June, 1993. The kids’ favorite house feature was the 14’ indoor trampoline in the great room with a view of Mt. Rainier!

Best family decision ever was homeschooling our three children--our deep relationships should keep us close for life. Some of our favorite homeschool activities were skiing, ice-skating, traveling, and visiting places like the Pacific Science Center and the library mid-week when other children were in group school classrooms.

Homeschooling continues with grandchildren. Other past and present pursuits include caring for mother-in-law and mother, weekly worship, various Bible studies and moms’ groups, children’s ministries at both University and Bellevue Presbyterian churches, and volunteering with the P.E.O. Sisterhood (gives scholarships and loans to women pursuing higher education and owns Cottey College). I love reading, gardening, attending Taproot Theatre and daughter Jean's many acting performances with Driftwood Theatre, Bainbridge Performing Arts, etc. I miss many fun things for which I no longer have time, like skiing, tatting, crocheting, knitting, and painting, because family care and house, garden, and car maintenance never quit. Still dreaming of working on the floor of Home Depot some day, so I don’t have to buy all their toys to have fun. Great people-fun is seeing and hearing the news of the extended Sleight clan every Christmas, and in recent years, reconnecting at various school reunions.