Nancy Webber was the epitome of the “can-do attitude,” her friends and family say, and they are grateful for her contagious smile and her trailblazing spirit from her work on political campaigns to her pioneering of Civic Park. She died of metastatic breast cancer on May 29.
Webber was born in Portland on July 24, 1951, adopted by Amos and Vesta Showalter and raised in Lake Oswego. She was Anishinaabe, a descendant of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, according to information at her Celebration of Life on August 25.
Webber was known as a fighter. Her neighbors, Nathan and Robin Philips, say they had never seen her back away from a problem.
She attended Colorado College where she pursued a degree in political science and constantly convinced her friends to participate in marches and protests alongside her.
She took her political degree and desire for activism to Washington D.C., where she became a legislative aide for Oregon Congressman Jim Weaver. After working on laws such as the Indian Tribal Restoration Act of 1978, the Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980 and the Endangered American Wilderness Act, Webber returned to Oregon.
While working at an environmental public relations firm in her home state, she met Bill Webber. Their work together on Oregon’s environment led to their marriage and the Recycling Opportunity Act. Nancy Webber became a stepmother to Carney Webber, and not long after, she gave birth to Jake and Maya Webber.
In 1994, Webber had to fight her first battle against breast cancer — she saw this as an opportunity to help others.
Webber worked with the Susan G. Komen Foundation to produce a documentary, Peg’s Legs, about her Hood to Coast running team of breast cancer survivors. She in turn inspired herself to pursue her master’s in journalism from the University of Oregon.
Webber began her second fight with breast cancer in 2002. In 2008, she volunteered for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and continued to work for his campaign in the following election. She wrote her book Ground Game about Obama’s organizing model, volunteers and voter contact.
While working on the Obama campaign, Webber became familiar with Kamala Harris and became an avid supporter.
Not long after, Webber joined Eugene Civic Alliance with the mission of saving and restoring historic Civic Stadium, the longtime home of the Eugene Emeralds and a special place for the community. She served as the Alliance’s executive director for seven years.
Bev Smith, her successor, says Webber “was able to capture the spirit of the project and send it out into the community.”
ECA bought Civic Stadium in 2015. A fire burned the stadium down that same year, and Webber was the first to act. Derek Johnson, a Eugene lawyer and Webber’s co-worker, remembers her working through the night figuring out how to handle the media and show the community how the ECA would turn this tragedy into triumph.
Johnson worked alongside Webber as co-executive director. He says his and Webber’s viewpoint of this project was: “If you ask us a question about what we can do, the answer is always yes.”
Webber’s persistence and optimism helped the ECA raise more than $43 million to construct the new Civic Park that opened in 2020. Civic Park is now home to the Lane United Football Club and the Kidsports fieldhouse.
“Everyone that knew Nancy will now look at Civic Park and see what a remarkable resource she added to the community and they will smile at the good work she did,” Johnson says.