May 23, 1921–November 12, 2023
Ann Arbor, MI–Nancy Heusel peacefully passed into eternal life through the promise of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in the early evening of November 12, 2023. Known throughout her life as possessing an energetic passion for the theater, as an actress and director, Nancy shared her love of (as she described it) “play-making” with her husband Ted for over 50 years. Never allowing herself to be typecast on the stage or in life, she continually pushed boundaries and created sympathetic ingénues, devious protagonists, revered heroes, and even an anchoress. Nancy remained on the stage well into her 80s. Her final call is best described by her favorite poet, Emily Dickinson, who wrote: “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me.” Born in the spring of 1931 to Hilda and George Born, Nancy grew up in York, PA with her parents, older sister (Madeline) and countless aunts and uncles, whose ancestors settled along the east coast in 1633. Nancy’s talents as an actress and pianist were discovered at an early age and encouraged by her mother. The Born family relocated to Washington, D.C. after World War II broke out; a city Nancy would always love and remember as the most exciting place to be during those years. Nancy earned her Actor’s Equity Card at the young age of 18 doing summer stock, and she pursued another adventure when she chose to attend the University of Michigan as a theater major. It was there that she met Ted, who had cast her in one of his professional shows, and this began a partnership on and off the stage that would span six decades. Nancy left for Broadway shortly after graduating from U-M, but Ted was able to lure her back to Ann Arbor with the promise of an exciting opportunity in a new summer theater in Saline. They married in 1954, the same year they did their first show together for the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre; a community theater group that was very important to Nancy throughout her life and where she was honored with a lifetime achievement award in 2019. Ted’s and Nancy’s theater careers ran in parallel and were always connected by the love they shared for their four children, who caught the “theater bug” early in life. Nancy’s enduring legacy, however, will be remembered not for the countless roles she played, but for the fierceness with which she loved her children (Michael (Cindy), Jennifer, Lydia (Lynn), and Mark (Trish)), ten grandchildren (Sara (Brian), Ben (Tina), David, Giselle, Quinn, Thye (Taylor), Nisha, Marin, Samuel, and Lincoln)), and eight great-grandchildren (Bethany, Michael, Brandt, Ruby, Sunny, Rhyelle). In addition to her family, Nancy would have considered her greatest contributions to be her decades-long relationships with Greenhills School, where she shared her gifts with drama students for over 40 years, and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, where she served as the Director of Christian Education for over 45 years and introduced a theatrical ministry. Ted and Nancy began attending St. Andrew’s in the early 1950s and remained lifelong members. They founded a theater program in the 1980s known as the St. Andrew’s Players, where they brought in notable actors to perform liturgical dramas in the sanctuary. Nancy continued to direct and produce shows for the theater program until she was nearly ninety. Nancy was always in the hunt for a performance venue, whether it was summer stock in Maine, Arts Theater, the Trueblood, Lydia Mendelssohn, the Power Center, the Michigan Theater, Performance Network, the Arthur Miller Theatre, or the Michigan League Dinner Theater, which she organized as a fundraising opportunity to support the continuing legacy of the Michigan League, a place very close to her heart: if a stage could be erected, Nancy would create a captivating experience. And, so she was in her life, to her children and the scores of people she inspired. Nancy was preceded in death by her son, Michael and husband, Ted. A celebration of Nancy’s life was held on November 19, at Muehlig Funeral Chapel, and services were held at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on November 20.