Beloved wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother, and aunt, Nancy Virginia Denning Dahl passed away peacefully Wednesday, April 13, 2022 in Kensington, Maryland with a beautiful smile on her face. Nancy was born June 13, 1916 in Gallatin, Tennessee to U.S. District Attorney and Tennessee State legislator Armistead Otey Denning of Sumner County Tennessee and Katherine Sanders Denning of Carrollton, Mississippi, along with older sister Alice Denning Puryear, by all of whom she is predeceased. She married, and was predeceased by, United States Air Force Major General Leo Peter Dahl of Ely, Minnesota.
Nancy was beloved by all whose paths she came across. She is survived by an extensive and loving family consisting of daughter Nancy Page Dahl Crosland and ex-spouse, the Honorable David Woolley Crosland; son Leo Peter Dahl, Jr. and spouse Linda Forrester Dahl; son Edward Denning Dahl and spouse Margaret Dahl of Los Alamos; 4 grandchildren; 4 great grandchildren; niece Susan Puryear Mumme, nephew Armistead Ted Puryear and spouse Julie Puryear. Ted and Susan Puryear, along with their deceased brother Romulus “Rommie” Puryear, are the children of Nancy’s beloved sister, Alice Denning Puryear.
Nancy was proud of her heritage and memberships in the Daughters of the American Colonists, The National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century, Daughters of the American Revolution, and The National Society Magna Charta Dames. Nancy was fond of sharing the fact that she and her sister Alice were two sisters who married two West Point Military Academy graduates from the class of 1932. Nancy was also an active member of the Montgomery Country Club in Montgomery, Alabama.
Nancy loved life and flourished as an Air Force wife. She was an active member of the Air Force community throughout her husband’s career and beyond as a founding member of the Retired Officer’s Wives Club at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama where Major General Dahl retired July 31, 1962. Nancy’s most cherished military assignment was Madrid, Spain from 1953 through 1956 when General Dahl was assigned as Commander, Spain Air Materiel Area. Nancy’s memoir of her time in Spain is available on Womp.org.
Services will be held at a later date at West Point Military Academy, where Nancy will finally rest in the Old Cadet Chapel Columbarium next to her husband, Major General Leo P. Dahl (1909 – 1993).