Nanci’s father was a pilot, so she grew up all over the U.S. After graduation from high school in California, she attended the University of Colorado, partly because she wanted to learn to ski.
While at C.U., studying for her teaching degree, Nanci met and married Fred Ammer, an experienced skier. Every weekend, when the snow was flying, they drove their “Bug”, over Loveland Pass to Arapahoe Basin to ski; Interstate-70 had not yet been built.
There she met, and soon supported, her ski friend, Dillon mayor, John Bailey who was actively involved in contentious discussions with the Denver Water Board for creation of the new town. In 1962, shortly after the new Town of Dillon was established, Nanci and her husband scraped together $1,000 to buy a lot and became some of the original permanent residents.
They lived in a tiny one room A-Frame while pounding nails building their home. Because of much hard, physical labor, and community help, they had a roof over their heads by winter.
Watching the valley being scraped clear, and with some buildings being brought to the new town site, Nanci’s interest was sparked in preserving history. She became the first president of the Summit Historical Society, spending time with the Colorado Historical Society to establish the new non-profit in 1966.
She also became the first woman to serve on the Dillon Town board.
The original plan for ski lodges was overtaken by a new concept, condominiums which led to her real estate career, opening and operating Dillon Real Estate in her living room. Nanci became the first woman president of the Summit County Board of Realtors, also serving on the Colorado Board.
Children, Rick and Katrina joined the family, with Katrina being in a hurry, and was delivered by the dentist.
Nanci’s many Summit County ‘firsts’ makes her a Woman of Distinction.
