LAKE CRYSTAL — Nancy Zwickey was a steadfast believer in education.
She not only was well-educated herself, she was “a heck of a teacher,” one former colleague said.
Zwickey was named Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 1998.
“She drove people to be the best that they could be,” her daughter Heather Zwickey said. “If you were a student who was underperforming, she never thought that student wasn’t capable. She would tell them they could do better and they could be more. She held you to a very high standard. She had a bigger vision for students than they could have for themselves.”
Nancy Zwickey, 84, died Monday from heart trouble at her Loon Lake home and was surrounded by family.
She grew up in Bloomington and attended the University of Minnesota, then transferred to what was then called Mankato Teachers College. She pursued various degrees, including a degree in physical education and health, later a master’s in physical education and health and also a master’s in biology. She also received a certificate in educational administration.
At the outset of her career in education, Zwickey was advised that her voice was too deep for the classroom and that she was better off coaching. She coached gymnastics, volleyball and field hockey. As women’s rights developed, she returned to college and, after receiving her master’s in biology, she moved into the classroom and taught biology and science.
She had many students go on to the national and even international science fairs, “probably the most of any small town,” Heather said.
“My town is 2,600 and at the time Lake Crystal High School was 300 students in grades 7-12 so to have two to three students per year go to the science fair was unheard of,” she said.
Zwickey went so far as to find college professors to mentor her students on their projects. She was also chief negotiator for the Minnesota State Teachers Union and “very active as an educator,” her daughter said.
Zwickey taught in Lake Crystal from 1969-1999 and then two more years in Faribault.
Kent Thiesse was on the School Board at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial when Zwickey was what he regarded as a “very prominent faculty member.” He also has a son who was her student.
“She was really enthusiastic about teaching,” Thiesse said. “She had a unique way of getting students excited about science. She challenged students to reach their highest level of achievement, and many of those students went on to do quite well in college and in their careers.”
Zwickey was also known for giving back to her community both before and during retirement, volunteering at the ECHO Food Shelf in Mankato, serving as a guardian ad litem for disadvantaged youth and serving on her town’s hospital board.
Jane Schuck got to know Zwickey as a neighbor, fellow parent and fellow teacher. They were friends for 35 years. Schuck describes Zwickey as honest, high energy and intelligent.
“She was an all-around sharp person, a good gardener, manager and a good leader,” she said.
Wendy Smith’s kids had Zwickey as a teacher. She was a wonderful educator, Smith said.
“She was involved in the community,” she said. “She was a great person, very fair and treated everyone with respect.”
As she aged, Zwickey had invitations to relocate to Oregon where Heather settled and to Montana where her son, Derek, lives. But Zwickey refused to leave Lake Crystal.
Heather describes her mother as a “challenger” and “stubborn.” She wasn’t sweet, but she was generous and kind, Heather said.
Among Zwickey’s hobbies were gardening, co-writing a column for her small-town newspaper and offering free swimming lessons for youth at the Lake Crystal Area Recreation Center, which she was instrumental in helping get built. She was also a church-goer.
Heather said her mom loved hosting, including garden club, church picnics and even Heather’s 35-year high school reunion. She joked that her house had survived a handful of tornadoes, going on to remark that “If she had it to do over again, she’d live underground,” Heather said.
Zwickey wed her children’s dad, F. James Zwickey, in 1964 after meeting him at Mankato Teachers College. He died in 2000 and in 2004 she married her second husband, William Steil.
Zwickey’s celebration of life event will be 2-5 p.m. Jan. 17 at Minnesota State University’s Centennial Student Union Ballroom.