Nancy (Richards) Zagorac

Nancy Richards Zagorac passed away Sunday, May 14, 2023, at home in Savannah, GA, at the age of 83. Nancy was born in Pittsburgh as the first of four siblings to Edward L. Richards and Edna J. Brooks Richards. She graduated from Beaver Area H.S. in 1957 and subsequently attended and graduated from Presbyterian University Hospital School of Nursing in 1960 earning her nursing degree. Nancy married her first husband, Dr. Dick Gash, and subsequently moved to Philadelphia where she worked at Albert Einstein Hospital. After her divorce from Dr. Gash, she returned to Pittsburgh where she would live for the remainder of her working career, being employed over the years by Magee Womens Hospital, UPMC, and the University of Pittsburgh’s Student Healthcare Facility. During those years she married her second husband Wilburt Zagorac and remained happily married until his death in 1989. After her retirement, she continued to live in the suburb of Churchill until her later years when she moved South to beautiful Savannah, GA, in 2019, where she lived the remainder of her life.

Nancy was preceded in her death not only by her husband but also by both of their daughters, Marsha Zagorac Leslie and Brenda Zagorac Pardini; her younger sister, Judy Richards Laughrey; and her grandson, Luke Pardini. She is survived by her two remaining brothers, David M. Richards, and Thomas C. Richards, and their spouses, as well as her daughter’s spouses, several nieces & nephews, one grandson and one grandniece.

Nancy was extremely active in PUHNAA, which is the alumni organization for the Presbyterian University Hospital School of Nursing Alumni. She received the Association’s ‘Outstanding Graduate Award’ in 2005 for her longstanding involvement with PUHNAA and her work as editor of the Organization’s Alumni Newsletter for many years. Nancy was also an active collector of decorative hat pins, accumulating an amazingly large collection over her lifetime.

Celebration of Life services for Nancy will be held at Wolfe Memorial, LLC, Forest Hills Chapel, 3604 Greensburg Pike, Pittsburgh PA 15221, on Saturday, June 3, with visitation from 1:00pm until the time of the service at 2pm. Private interment in William Penn Cemetery.

Since Nancy was a cancer survivor, in lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation in Nancy's memory to the American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org.

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