[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 52 (Monday, April 13, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E460]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF NAN TUCKER McEVOY

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 13, 2015

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, on March 26th, San Francisco lost a great 
civic leader, philanthropist and beloved friend. Nan McEvoy was a 
trailblazing, entrepreneurial woman whose wisdom, courage, and 
generosity, reminded us of our responsibility to improve our 
communities and our world. Nan strengthened our democracy through her 
service at the newspaper her family founded, the San Francisco 
Chronicle, and set a sterling example as a compassionate and concerned 
global citizen as an early Peace Corps volunteer.
  All of Nan's many friends knew that, although her commitment to 
public service was well known and respected, her love of her family as 
a mother and grandmother was first and foremost in her life.
  Phyllis Ann Tucker was born into a prominent publishing family on 
July 15, 1919 in San Mateo, California. Her grandfather, M.H. de Young, 
founded the one hundred and fifty year old newspaper, the San Francisco 
Chronicle. During the war, Nan worked as a writer and a reporter for 
the newspaper, and helped cover the founding of the United Nations in 
San Francisco.
  After the war, Nan made her home in Washington, D.C., where she 
became an active leader in public service, philanthropy, and politics 
for four decades. She participated in the 1956 presidential campaign of 
Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson and, in 1961, became a top aide to 
Sargent Shriver, the founding director of the Peace Corps, where she 
was later chosen to run the Corps' African programs. In 1965, she 
opened the Washington office of the Population Council, a nonprofit 
agency addressing global issues of population, poverty, development and 
health. She also served as a U.S. delegate to UNESCO, the cultural arm 
of the United Nations.
  Returning to San Francisco, she assumed leadership of the family 
newspaper as Chair of the Board of Chronicle Publishing from 1981-1995. 
She was a true believer in journalism and wholly committed to 
preserving the family company. She served as a board member at the 
University of California, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and 
the San Francisco Symphony, among other San Francisco organizations, 
and was the first woman to chair the governing board of the Smithsonian 
American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.
  After Chronicle Publishing was sold, Nan devoted her energies to 
producing premium extra virgin olive oil at her ranch outside Petaluma 
in Marin County. The company is now the country's largest producer of 
certified organic estate-produced extra-virgin olive oil and has been 
rated as among the best in the world.
  Our country has lost a pioneer woman, our community has lost a 
gracious leader and my family has lost a dear friend. May it be a 
comfort to Nan's son, Nion, her grandchildren, Helen, Nion, Jr. and 
Griffin, and her entire family that so many people mourn their loss and 
that Nan's legacy will always be an inspiration to the nation she 
loved.

                          ____________________