CALLAHAN, Nancy
CALLAHAN, Nancy (b. 1949), born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, she attended the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater, and was graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison as a nurse. Nancy moved to Santa Barbara in 1975, where she and her husband, Larry Callahan, owned Cold Spring Tavern. Following the sale of that business, she gave up nursing and together they started the Santa Barbara Olive Company. Several years later, after selling the olive business, they led caravans of motorhomes to Mexico with a company named Tracks to Mexico. From Mexico, they headed to the South Pacific, visiting the Cook Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand Australia and the Fiji Islands, where they settled and built a home.
While living in Fiji, the Callahans were contacted by The Nature Conservancy following the death of island owner, Carey Stanton, and offered the positions of ranch manager and hospitality manager. As the first post-Stanton-era managers they had multitudes of responsibilities, from catering to visitors and donors to helping with the round-up activities associated with the gathering and shipping of the island's Hereford cattle. They left the island after a few years, but never lost their love for the island. The Callahans divorced, but remained active with the island through the Santa Cruz Island Foundation, serving on its Advisory Council. Larry Callahan died in 2012.
In 1993 Nancy met Robin Gauss, a marine engineer who knew the island from his offshore work. Together they spent as much time as possible volunteering on Santa Cruz Island over the next 25 years. Robin Gauss died in 2017.
Nancy continues to be active with the Santa Cruz Island Foundation. In 2019 she became member 219 of the All Eight Club, shortly after visiting her last island, San Miguel Island.
