Nancy Calhoun Wilder Suit Women's History Month
Nancy Calhoun Wilder Suit was born in the Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky on July 24, 1934, on a scorching hot summer day before air conditioning was utilized in hospitals.
In fact the nurses placed tubs of ice water at the doors of the nursery with sheets dipped in the water with electric fans blowing the cooled air into the crib area to help cool the newborn babies.
She was the third daughter born to Edward Daniel and Sara Caldwell Bond Wilder. Mrs. Suit is a descendant of president James E. Polk and two Governor Taylor’s of Tennessee and her family also has connections to John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis.
The family of her paternal grandfather were settlers of Massachusetts and members of the Plymouth Society.
She was educated in the Fayette County Schools and graduated in 1952.
With a lifetime of interest in horses she pursued her equestrian training as a child.
She married Marvin Wilson Suit on June 8, 1956 when Marvin was in his third year of law school.¡
Nancy became a member of the Junior League of Lexington in 1955 and worked with their sponsorship of the prestigious Junior League Horse Show in 1956 and 1957.
After she and her husband returned to Fleming County, Marvin’s native home, she joined the Junior Women’s Club where she served as treasurer and later president.
Nancy became active with a new organization to be known as the Inquirer’s Club, which she and Marvin sponsored and is a Sunday night Christian supper group that meets in the member’s homes on the first Sunday night of each month and after 50 years still continues to this day.
With her interest in the outdoors, she was a member and president of the Fleming County Garden Club, the Fleming County Golf Association and was the first 4-H leader for their horse program. She taught many young riders the basics of horsemanship and gave the dedication speech for the opening of the Gorman Riding Ring at the Flemingsburg Recreation Park.
Mrs. Suit also contributed to the activities for young people in Fleming County and organized the children’s pre-school at the Flemingsburg Methodist Church.
In 1992 Nancy and Marvin introduced Belted Galloway cattle to Fleming County with Nancy eventually being elected to their national council and served as president in 1996.
In 1989 she was elected to the Flemingsburg City Council and served until 2006 and was a substitute teacher in the Fleming County School System for over 20 years.
She was recognized for her many accomplishments by Beta Sigma Phi as “Lady of the Year” in 2011.
A life long Episcopalian, she was a founding member of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Flemingsburg in 1981 and served on the Executive Council and the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky.
A cancerous thyroid was diagnosed in Nancy in 2007 and she survived with its complications until Feb. 23, 2016. Story compiled by K.L. Hawkins King.
