Nancy Vaupel passed away on Friday, 11 November 2011 at the age of 64 after serious illness. From 1996 to 2000, she helped to build up the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research as Head of the Office of Information Systems and Services. She was responsible for the demographic data collection and acquisition, the IT infrastructure and services, the communication and editorial services, as well as the documentation and library services. She left a deep imprint on the Institute not least because she played a central role in hiring a great number of the current Institute's support staff. To collaborate with Nancy Vaupel meant intense and professional exchange of knowledge, expertise, and advice combined with rare warmth and understanding. After her return to the USA in 2000, she worked as a research administrator at Duke University.
Eulogy given by Nancy's brother Jimmy:
Nancy Memorial 15 Nov. 2011 (J.W. Vaupel)
Nancy battled cancer for 13 years, never giving in, working hard at her jobs, in
recent years at Duke, and caring for her partner Dale and also for Nancy’s and my
mother. She and I successfully ran a workshop at Duke on biodemographic research in
May. Then her health started to decline sharply. Nonetheless, she carried out her Duke
work until the end of September, when she was hospitalized.
From early October until her death on November 11th, her partner Dale visited her
every day, which was a great comfort to her. She lived with our Mom the last weeks of
her life and this was also a great comfort to her: every time I asked her about Mom, she
said Mom is wonderful, Mom is amazing, Mom is so admirable, which is very true.
In addition to her partner Dale, Nancy was close to many people. She and my
wife Bodil were long-time friends, spending a year in school together in Denmark in
1965-66 and staying close ever since. She deeply loved her niece Anna and also her other
niece Sofie and Sofie’s toddler Noah. And she cared about many other people.
Some of Nancy’s friends and colleagues have emailed me about their sorrow. Let
me quote a few remarks from a few of the messages I received.
Sorry to hear about this so long after her death. Nancy was a genuinely warm and caring person. I can't recall ever seeing her in anything but a positive mood. The entire Vaupel family were truly nice people. I remember Jim from scouting and school and their Dad was "everyone's" optomitrist! ....Carl Turnquist
Paul Newman
Nancy Vaupel passed away on Friday, 11 November 2011 at the age of 64 after serious illness. From 1996 to 2000, she helped to build up the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research as Head of the Office of Information Systems and Services. She was responsible for the demographic data collection and acquisition, the IT infrastructure and services, the communication and editorial services, as well as the documentation and library services. She left a deep imprint on the Institute not least because she played a central role in hiring a great number of the current Institute's support staff. To collaborate with Nancy Vaupel meant intense and professional exchange of knowledge, expertise, and advice combined with rare warmth and understanding. After her return to the USA in 2000, she worked as a research administrator at Duke University.
Eulogy given by Nancy's brother Jimmy:
Carl (Scoop) Turnquist
Sorry to hear about this so long after her death. Nancy was a genuinely warm and caring person. I can't recall ever seeing her in anything but a positive mood. The entire Vaupel family were truly nice people. I remember Jim from scouting and school and their Dad was "everyone's" optomitrist! ....Carl Turnquist