Quincy’s Nancy Schanze retires after 32 years with the city

QUINCY — Nancy Schanze has deep roots in Quincy.

“We moved there when I was 5,” she said. “I was a 12-year senior. I raised my daughter there, and I have sisters that live there with their families. We’re a Quincy family.”

That’s not to mention the 32 years she spent working for the city of Quincy.

“I started in 1992 as the public works clerk, then in 1996 I went to city hall as the deputy finance officer,” she said. “And then in 2014 was promoted to finance officer-city clerk.”

Schanze retired from the job at the end of June, after a career that she said offered a lot of opportunities dating back to her days in public works.

“I even got to read meters once, to help the guys with the meters, I got to do the garbage truck when we had the one-armed trucks. There were lots of fun times,” Schanze said.

Her duties as clerk and finance officer are laid out in Washington administrative rules, she said. 

“The responsibility is to be the internal auditor to make sure people are following (city) policies,” she said. “Records management, so to ensure that minutes are being taken, that the (Open Public Meetings Act) isn’t being violated. And I have great staff for that. Stephanie (Boorman) is phenomenal for that."

“The finance side is the utility billing, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable,” she said. “And Laura (Camacho) is the right-hand man on payroll and stuff. (Human resources) is the clerk’s role.”

It wouldn’t have been possible to do the job without her staff, she said. In addition to Camacho and Boorman, the city hall staff includes Justine Schwint, Esmeralda Penada, Yolanda Orozco and Nicole Medina.

“I have the best staff,” Schanze said.

And as far as Schanze is concerned, Quincy is a pretty good place.

“I love the people,” she said. “And when you do utility billing you get to know everybody,” she said.

She missed that day-to-day contact when she took over as clerk-finance officer, she said. But she was around the community in other ways, doing a job that was very important to her.

“I got to know people not only through working for the city but also (by) being a volunteer on the ambulance,” she said. “I picked up a lot of relatives or friends, or my mom’s friends, over the years.”

She first became an EMT in 1983 and joined the crew in Quincy in 1988. 

“I joined the Quincy Valley ambulance service, which was run through the (Quincy Valley Medical Center),” she said. 

She continued to work as a volunteer, then as part of the paid staff until 2011; when QVMC eliminated the service, she joined the staff of its successor, Protection One. 

“It was very part-time. I filled in as needed,” she said,

She worked as part of the crew until October 2023. She’s still a volunteer with Grant County Fire District 5 and teaches EMT classes for the district. Her husband Todd is a member of the Moses Lake Fire Department, and her daughter Dana also has a career in emergency medicine.  

“I’ve had students that just wanted to take an EMT class, and all of a sudden, the next thing you know, they love it. They’re going into nursing, they’re going to (other specialties) because they never thought they would like it, and — boom,” she said.

For Schanze it was part of the family tradition started by her parents, Al and Erika Naigle.

“My parents were always service-oriented,” she said.

Both of her parents were involved in youth activities with their seven children, and in addition to that Erika Naigle was a nurse, working the graveyard shift at QVMC while her children were growing up. 

“It rubbed off, I think, on all us kids,” Schanze said.

Her first experience was first aid training in her time as a lifeguard at the Quincy pool, she said. That was followed by the EMT course and experience while living in Alaska.

“I enjoy helping people,” she said. “I don’t like crowds but I’m a people person if somebody needs help. I don’t mind getting in there and helping.” 

Retirement will bring more time to visit family and take a few trips, but Schanze said she plans to continue volunteering at GCFD 5.

“I really, really love the volunteers at (GCFD) 5. There is a phenomenal group of young men and women that truly want to serve their community. They’re great,” Schanze said.

She does intend to keep serving the community, she said.

“I’m going to continue as a volunteer with (GCFD) 5 as long as they’ll have me and I will continue teaching as long as they let me,” she said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Quincy City Clerk-Finance Director Nancy Schanze, right, snaps a picture of her retirement cake and an appreciation plaque, surrounded by her staff.
  

    Nancy Schanze, retiring Quincy city clerk, right, and Esmeralda Peando, left, take a peek at a picture.
  

    Nancy Schanze cuts her retirement cake on her last day of work June 28.