Washington National Cathedral

Nancy Leigh Schwinn Montgomery, 87, long-time writer and editor for Washington National Cathedral, died peacefully in her sleep on July 30 while visiting her daughter, Nancy O. M. Dickson, in Dallas. The cause was heart failure.

Ms. Montgomery first came to the cathedral in 1962 to work in public relations and soon became the staff writer for the National Cathedral Association and editor of Cathedral Age, a national, award-winning quarterly with a circulation of 24,000. In 1974 she was named Director of Communications, in which position she continued until her retirement in 1986.

As cathedral communications director, Ms. Montgomery carried out a wide variety of responsibilities including all cathedral public relations functions involving media coverage and programming, news releases, convention arrangements, radio coverage and TV spot announcements, story placement and working with reporters and travel writers.

In addition, Ms. Montgomery produced cathedral-themed films, television programs, and slide lectures. For four years, she produced two weekly talk-show telecasts that were carried on WRC-TV. Every December, she was the coordinator of national live Christmas Day telecasts from the cathedral for NBC and later WJAL-TV.

Ms. Montgomery not only was the editor of Cathedral Age, she also was the author-editor of a series of cathedral guide books, including A Guide to Washington Cathedral, Stitches for God, Jewels of Light, Music and Washington Cathedral, and Sculpture and Carving at Washington Cathedral. In addition she was editor of the popular Herb Cottage Cook Book. She worked closely with the cathedral’s Development Department, writing and supervising the production of brochures, letters, pledge cards and other materials. She supervised the advertising for the cathedral shops, special events, and concerts, including Cathedral Choral Society concerts. She also traveled extensively, speaking to groups around the country on behalf of the cathedral. Nancy S. Montgomery was born in Vidalia, Georgia, the only child of Karl Schwinn, a career Army officer, and Nancy Rothacker, a motion picture editor. She received a bachelor’s degree with honors in English from Mount Holyoke College in 1942, earned a translator’s certificate from the University of Paris (Sorbonne) in 1960, and did graduate work in public relations and journalism at American University in 1964.

After her retirement from the cathedral in 1986, Ms. Montgomery continued to be active in the Washington, D.C. area in both paid and volunteer work. She wrote a booklet celebrating the centennial of the Washington Home and Hospice; she worked in the news room at the 1988 Lambeth Conference in England; she managed the news room for the Episcopal House of Bishops meeting in Washington, D.C. in 1990; she was a public relations consultant to the National Society of Colonial Dames of America and also for the College of Preachers at the cathedral; and she carried out pro bono work for Hospice Care of DC, the Interfaith Conference of Washington, and Iona House.

In her retirement, Ms. Montgomery served as a member of the board of directors of Hospice Care of DC and as an officer of the Mount Holyoke College Board of Directors. A long-time activist for women’s rights and the peace movement, she gave generously of her time and talents to many organizations supporting those causes. She was a member of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC.

A film, theater and opera devotee, Ms. Montgomery was an avid supporter of local theaters, including Arena Stage, Source, Shakespeare, and Studio. Her love affair with opera began when she attended her first performance at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1930, and it lasted throughout her life. She was a voracious reader, and in her later years, when her eyesight had failed, she kept up on her “reading” with the help of dozens of books on tape each week.

Ms. Montgomery’s marriage to Commander Howard Howlett Montgomery, Jr. ended in divorce. Survivors, in addition to her daughter, include a son, Howard Howlett Montgomery III (“Jay”), of Whistler, British Columbia, two granddaughters and three great-granddaughters.

SOURCE: Washington National Cathedral