Nancy Watkins

NANCY WATKINS

Fairfield

Nancy Watkins, 75, died March 9, 2020. She was born in Kansas City, Mo., in 1944, and was raised by her parents, Madalyn B. Watkins and John S. Watkins Jr.

She attended Barstow School in Kansas City for high school and graduated as valedictorian in 1962. She graduated Smith College in 1966 with an A.B. in economics, and received her Juris Doctor with honors from George Washington University in 1975.

Nancy lived in Fairfield, Iowa, for the past four decades, where she practiced law and was the beloved international student advisor for Maharishi International University. She looked after the international students like a mother, in addition to navigating the complicated student visa process. To many she was a guardian angel whose love and support filled in for being far from home.

Many of the international students, who became close friends and thought of her as family, filled her home and office so completely with gifts of appreciation that nearly every surface was covered, like "an international curio collection," said a lifelong friend.

Nancy always lent her kindness and intelligence to people in need. Before moving to Fairfield, she worked as a criminal defense attorney in San Francisco, taking on difficult cases and working with people who others wouldn't. She volunteered in prisons, offering legal services to inmates and finding out whether they had fair trials.

Friends say she was "ferocious on the side of right." Her work in bringing Transcendental Meditation to the inmates of San Quinton prison in California was noted in a letter of thanks signed by 120 inmates.

In addition to her International Student advisor work, Nancy offered individual tax preparation and performed marriages. She became an ordained Divine Light minister, so that she could officiate marriages, which she did for hundreds of couples.

Nancy was also admired for her incredible memory, her extraordinary brightness and quick wit.

She had an adventurous spirit and loved to travel, making annual trips to France with the Knights Templar organization and attending weddings and other family events of her international students who had become lifelong friends, all over the globe.

She had a great appreciation for culture and the arts, frequently attending local theatre and musical events and regularly purchasing art from local artists that she wanted to support. Her generosity and philanthropy is known by many non-profits in town, to several start-up business ventures and to countless individuals she quietly helped in times of need.

Throughout her life, Nancy valued spirituality and self-development, practicing Transcendental Meditation for five decades. Always adding to her education, she took many advanced courses in Vedic studies and become a Transcendental Meditation teacher. She devoted her life to the support and success of the Maharishi International University.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, John S. Watkins, III.

She is survived by her nieces, Juli Watkins of Castle Rock, Colo., and Michelle Watkins of Leawood, Kan.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations to the Maharishi International University be given online at giving.miu.edu.