Nancy Lincoln Frost McCarthy

July 24, 1925- July 24, 2019

A Mayflower descendant, Nancy was born in Rockport, Massachusetts.  Her mother took her and her two brothers to California in the 1930's.  She graduated Sequoia High School and earned a degree at San Jose State University.  She went off to Stanford University Nursing School at the beginning of WWII.  Due to the shortage of nurses during wartime the U.S. President created the U.S. Nurses Cadet Corp.  Shortly before her death she found out that she and all the nurses are considered WWII Veterans.  She was shocked and proud.  She remained in nursing until her marriage in 1946 to WWII Navy Veteran David X McCarthy.  They remained in the San Francisco and Berkeley area near his family.

She gave birth to her first child, Karen Ann and then a year later David Michael (Mike).  In 1958 they moved to Gilroy to a dairy ranch.  Their last child Robyn Nicholl was born there.

Mom became a farmer's wife; she moved her mother to a house on the property.  Her home was open to family, friends, and sometimes strangers.  A plate of food, a place to sleep, the door was always open. Cousins would pull up in big rigs for a day or a year.  Holidays always had extra folk and stories.  Even a grammar school class showed up for a tour of the farm, she didn't blink.

She was available for all her children's activities.  She was a Girl Scout Leader, 4-H Leader, swim meet timer, learned about softball.  Attended plays, concerts and friends' graduations.

She worked for the Gilroy Dispatch for 23 years as a general assignment reporter, police beat, woman on the street, moving on to feature stories.  "No" or "can't" were not in her vocabulary.  She wrote about the Gilroy community's battle with drugs, including an in-depth interview in secret with leaders of the Nuestra Familia, before most people knew about them.  She earned a national award from the Suburban Newspapers of America.  She also published stories about history, her passion and the West.  Some were included in Western Horseman and other magazines.  One of her favorites was about a roundup where she was a rear drover, eating dirt, riding proudly, and camping out (anything to get on a horse) she had the best time.

In 1988, Nancy and her husband moved to Boulder Creek, California.  She purchased a bookstore and also partnered in a liquor store.  She wrote a non-fiction account of the history of the Santa Cruz Mountains. "Where Grizzlies Roamed the Canyons".  In 2000 tired of cold winters she and David moved to their beloved Kauai.  After so many visits and family in Hawaii this became her final home.

An admitted water creature she could be found 5 days a week on the south shore swimming with her honus (turtles) and monk seals.  She and dad became known by locals and surfers as Auntie Nancy and Uncle David. She had found her paradise.

She is preceded in death by her brother, Richard Gray Frost of Oregon, her husband, David of Kauai.  She is lovingly survived by her son, David Michael McCarthy of Tennessee, his two children Keri and Cory and four grandchildren, her daughter, Robyn Nicholl McCarthy and grandson, Rian, both of Kauai and her brother, John Elliot Frost of Texas.  Many nieces and nephews including James Frost of Gilroy and Colleen Frost Humphries of Tollhouse CA.

Her legacy then, now and forever are her family and the Frost name.

On October 17, 2019 at 4:00 her ashes will be scattered at her south shore swimming place.  The Kukuiloa Canoe Club graciously donating the use of a decorated canoe.  The ceremony can be seen from Spouting Horn.

In lieu of flowers, she asked that donations be made to the Rosebud Lakota Reservation Children's School, a passion of hers for much of her life.