Former Westminster Mayor Nancy McNally officially stepped down from the dais on Dec. 1, marking more than 35 years in public service.

“You’re our council mom,” Councilmember Amber Hott said behind tears. “What are we going to do without our council mom?”

A few weeks later, multiple people stopped to shake her hand or wish her a good day when McNally walked into the city building again — a demonstration of the relationship the Westminster icon built with the city and its residents.

“She’s a good friend that’s just there for people. She has a big heart for this community,” said former Councilmember David DeMott on the city’s website. “Our organization treats people with heart and empathy. That’s because of leaders like Nancy McNally.”

Even through an ongoing battle with cancer and more than three decades on her shoulders, McNally’s love for the city has not wavered, her colleagues and other said.

CABBAGE PATCH KIDS AND JEFFCO KIDS

McNally’s long career in public service positions started with Jeffco Public Schools board meetings, which she attended over a span of six years as a resident. In all those years, she missed only six meetings.

She attended Colorado Mesa University, where she met her soon-to-be husband, Larry. Around 1978, the two bought their home in Westminster, where they still reside.

The duo eventually had three children.

As a stay-at-home mom, McNally joined her children’s school’s Parent Teacher Association in 1980 and eventually attended school board meetings to help stop a music program from being axed.

She continued going to school board meetings over six years, spending her time knitting or crocheting. She only missed six dates.

“I can’t tell you how many Cabbage Patch dolls I made during those meetings,” she said.

Eventually, one of the board members told her he was not running for election and there was no one more qualified.

“He said, ‘You know everything except our executive sessions,'” McNally said, recounting what the board member told her. “So, I ran.”

She served on the school board from 1989 to 1997, including two years as board chair, eventually stepping down when her children graduated high school.

McNally thought she’d join the working world again. It didn’t last long.

THREE STINTS AS MAYOR

McNally worked for a Lutheran church and later a banking firm.

“I was really missing working with people, having rich discussions,” she said.

The stint away ended quickly. She ran for Westminster City Council in 2001, beating out 11 other candidates.

McNally moved into the council seat and was elected mayor pro tem.

Mayor Ed Moss stepped down in 2004 after becoming a district judge, putting McNally into the seat.

“He said, ‘You’re going to be mayor.’ I said, ‘Okay.'”

She ran the next year and won. She ran again in 2009, this time uncontested. She reached her term limit in 2013.

“Downtown Westminster should have her name on a plaque somewhere,” Moss said.

In 2020, Westminster was in turmoil. Residents pushed to recall over half of the City Council following an increase in water rates. There were marches in the city.

“It was a zoo,” McNally said. “I told them I would help find someone to be mayor. They said, ‘No, we want you. We need you to just settle the city back down.'”

McNally said people’s voices were not being heard.

Eventually, the city did settle down.

“The first 12 years I was on, politics were not part of anything,” she said. “We’re about Westminster, roads, water. What we do does not bleed red or blue. It’s what the city needs. It’s not politics.”

Councilmember Obi Ezeadi told The Denver Gazette said McNally is the “truest example of a mayor who set the standard for deep city knowledge, steady judgment and a people-first approach.”

“And despite our political differences, I learned a great deal from her because being people-centered transcends ideology,” Ezeadi said.

Under her term as mayor, the city worked on building Downtown Westminster and sought to raise sales taxes for road and fire department improvements. She was also a part of a lawsuit against the state over imposing “affordable” housing laws in home rule cities.

A BATTLE WITH CANCER

During McNally’s second term, she was diagnosed with two different types of breast cancer — hormonal and genetic. The genetic cancer never truly goes away, but it can be controlled through medication.

Normal cancer markers are supposed to be around 0 to 30. Hers started out at 866.

McNally got ahead of rumors, speaking bluntly about her diagnosis to both residents and the dais.

“It took the bull by the horns and said cancer is like having a cold. Yup, you’re dealing with it, but it doesn’t define your journey. It’s going to live with me. I’m not going to live with it,” she said.

McNally didn’t stop going to meetings. She didn’t step down. She kept embroidering and crocheting.

“If I had something to say, it came from my mouth, nobody else’s,” she said.

Doctors eventually got the cancer markers down to 80, believing that to be the lowest they could possibly go.

In her first year of cancer treatment, McNally needed open heart surgery for a valve that wasn’t closing properly.

“Everybody’s just like, ‘Oh, how much more?'” McNally laughed.

In a funny anecdote, McNally recalled being in cancer treatment and her doctor forcing her to avoid any City Council work. When her blood pressure dropped too low, the doctor allowed her to open one single email from work.

Her blood pressure jumped back up to 110/70.

“I never told the council which member’s email I opened,” McNally joked.

While McNally’s genetic cancer will never go away entirely, it’s not the reason she stepped down from the mayoral role. She just thought it was time, she said.

Time to let some fresh faces in.

‘THEY WILL DO JUST FINE’

The city swore in two-year Councilmember Claire Carmelia as the city’s new mayor on Dec. 1, replacing McNally.

“You’re there for the moment you’re there and things keep going. It isn’t me. You’re helping set the tone,” McNally reflected on her time and the future of the City Council. “Westminster comes first. Your people come first. It doesn’t matter what the state legislature is doing.”

McNally isn’t quite done yet.

She’s still a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the police and fire alumni. She still does cottage foods, producing more than 250 pounds of nuts into peanut brittle this holiday.

“I know of no other fights at the moment,” she laughed. “But I’ll keep busy.”

Of the city, she added, “I left it the best I could. They will do just fine.”