Nancy Brands, born Nancy Charlotte Young, the daughter of Leila and Clarence Young, lived in the Portland area almost her entire life. She was active in a number of different circles in the community over the course of her 88 years and leaves a legacy of loving service.

The first circle for Nancy was always her family. After attending Holy Child Academy during the war years, she went away to college, first to Dominican College in San Rafael, Calif., and then to Rosemont College in Philadelphia, but she came home after graduation and married Henry Brands, a Portland native. They had a long and happy life together, celebrating their 59th anniversary before Henry died in 2008 and raised four children.

What her children remember especially is Nancy’s devotion to their welfare and Henry’s, most obviously demonstrated during the last years of Henry’s life when she was his full-time caregiver. Nancy’s faith circle and all its various subsets were her next priority. A devout Catholic, she and Henry were members of St. Mary Magdalene Parish when the children were growing up and then St. Thomas More. She was active in the Mother’s Club of Madeleine School and she and Henry gave generously to both parishes. As a Holy Child Academy alum, she maintained strong ties to the Holy Child sisters and supported them in many ways, from volunteering as a sewing teacher at the Academy to visiting her dear friend, Holy Child Missionary Sister Anita Connelly, in Ghana. She helped coordinate numerous fundraisers for Holy Child, including the “Singtennial” in 1969 when she reprised her portrayal of Sir Joseph Porter in Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. A longtime member of the Archbishop’s Seminary Tea Committee, she was also president of the Christ Child Society, which knitted “layettes,” sets of baby clothes, blankets and booties for the children of single mothers.

When Nancy and Henry’s sons attended Jesuit High School, it became a focus of their charitable giving. In 1977, she became one of the first women to serve on the Jesuit Board of Trustees and in 2001, she and Henry received Jesuit’s St. Peter Canisius Award for service and leadership. Most recently, Nancy became a benefactor of the Jesuit, founded St. Andrew’s Nativity School in North Portland, funding a scholarship with her son, David, and his family.

When Henry died, Nancy moved to Mary’s Woods at Marylhurst Retirement Community in Lake Oswego, where she spent seven happy years before her death. True to form, she found ways of being useful in her new surroundings. She was a sacristan at the Chapel, a breakfast server for the residents of the Marie Rose Center and a sympathetic ear to all her friends whom she enjoyed immensely. Nancy was the best example her children have ever known of consistently joyful self-giving. As long as she was with her loved ones, she was happy. She cherished each new addition to the family and a favorite memory is the way she would put together jigsaw puzzles and play card games with her grandchildren and later great-grandchildren at the family beach house in Gearhart. Each child received “Grammy’s” enthusiastic attention. Nancy did important things in her life but mostly, as St. Teresa of Calcutta said, she did “little things with great love.” For that her children are exceedingly grateful.

Nancy is survived by her children, Sally Brands (John Savage), Laurie Gagne, H.W. (Bill) Brands Jr. and David Brands (Julie); 15 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and brother, Jim Young.

A Mass of Christian burial for Nancy will be offered at 11 a.m. Friday, November 6, 2015, at the Chapel at Mary’s Woods in Lake Oswego. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to St. Andrew Nativity School, 4925 N.E. Ninth Avenue, Portland, OR 97211, www.nativityportland.org.