Nancy Claire Immel (Chester) was born on May 5, 1937 and grew up in Camp Hill, a small town in Alabama. She grew up surrounded by a family that valued education, art, and music. In 1958, at the age of 21, she competed for Ms. Alabama and won runner up. She attended Birmingham–Southern College and, having always been told by her father that she needed to marry a nice Texan man, she left Alabama upon graduation to attend the University of Texas where she pursued a graduate degree in music. Fulfilling her father’s wish, she met the love of her life, Conrad, while in graduate school. Conrad was an Engineering major, but never strayed far from his love for music, and this mutual love for music easily brought Nancy and Conrad together. They wed on September 7, 1963 and began their musical journey together through which they would travel for the next 61 years.
A year later in 1964, Conrad received a Fulbright Scholarship to study voice at the Vienna Academy of Music, so they both moved to Europe. Over the next few years, while living in Europe, Conrad studied voice and Nancy taught piano. Eventually, while still in Europe, Conrad was accepted to an opera company and Nancy would use her piano skills to help him prepare for performances. During their time in Europe, they welcomed their son, Chris. In 1974, Nancy, Conrad, and Chris returned to the United States settling in Santa Monica, CA. Conrad began teaching at USC and Nancy began teaching piano to students on the Westside. Over the next 50 years, Nancy would teach hundreds of students with some eventually pursuing careers in music crediting her lessons and love for music as their foundation to pursue such a career. She was always proud of her students and looked forward to the end-of-school-year recitals when parents could see their children’s progress, and other students could hear each other and discover new music. Nancy would have Conrad sit behind the stage to help calm students’ nerves before their recital performance and be their private cheerleader before going on stage, as well as after their performance. Nancy and Conrad always found ways to successfully work as a team for their students.
Nancy was active with the Westwood Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. She was their accompanist while Conrad was a Bass Soloist. She could be found playing the piano during their various concerts helping fill the Church with beautiful music. She and Conrad also belonged to the San Fernando Valley Chorale where Conrad worked as the Director and Conductor and for which she accompanied on the piano. They were both active in this Chorale up until Conrad’s passing in December 2024. Not only was their love of music often on public display, but often Nancy could also be heard playing the piano at home with Conrad singing a solo whether it was just for fun or for an upcoming performance. This love for music and performing brought many people together and now that they have both passed, it leaves behind a great hole.
Through Nancy’s teachings and active community involvement, and now that both she and Conrad are gone, they have both left behind a large musical legacy, and they will be greatly missed by neighbors, colleagues and (former) students. Nancy is survived by her son Chris, his wife Bianca, and their children, Dylan and Brooke.