Nancy Aileen Proeger

Nancy Aileen Proeger

CaliforniaConfirmed

Aunt · 1937–1973

Nancy A. Proeger, senior portrait, 1955 — George Washington High School yearbook, Guam S311. Photo supplied by Earl Proeger.

Born

6 April 1937, Niles, California

Died

9 January 1973, Wallowa County, Oregon

Parents

William Harry Proeger & Aileane Marie Silva

Sources

8

Images

6

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1937

Born 6 April 1937, Niles, California S275 Confirmed

her own 1955 Oregon record of marriage gives Niles, California and 6 April 1937; the Social Security Death Index gives the same day S298. An earlier version of this card placed her birth in Texas on family testimony; that was an error. Earl, 23 September 2026: she was never in Texas.

Death1973

Died 9 January 1973, Wallowa County, Oregon, aged 35, as Nancy Wortman, her married name at her death S298 Confirmed

Oregon Death Index, certificate 73-01723; the Social Security Death Index agrees (born 6 April 1937, died January 1973). Earl recalls 1973, and Eileen's c. 1996 list already calls her deceased S205. An earlier version of this card gave a 2025 date in Austin; that was an error, carried over from Earl's mother, Nancy Martin Coffman Proeger.

Cause1973

Took her own life, as reported on the front page of the Wallowa County Chieftain, Thursday 11 January 1973 S343 Confirmed

the paper says she died on Tuesday 9 January of a rifle shot, alone in a pickup parked near the boat ramp at the foot of Wallowa Lake, after a day-long search; she was found about 8:30 that evening. She was living in Enterprise and working at the Wallowa County Nursing Home, having earlier worked at the Fireplace, the Elks Lodge and the Gold Room in Joseph. The paper names her Nancy Belcourt Wortman, 35, twice divorced, and says she was survived by two daughters living with their father, Robert Belcourt, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and by a son and a daughter who had been living with her. The full obituary promised for the following week has not yet been found.

Residence1950

Grew up in the household of her stepfather, Earl Theodore Roberts: the 1950 census finds her at 13 at 219C Brush St, Alameda, with her mother, Roberts, Patricia and William, all three children enumerated as Roberts S215

Schooling1955

A senior at George Washington High School, Guam, in 1955, having transferred in 1954 from Astoria High School, Oregon; Junior Class Secretary S311 Confirmed

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Parents—

Daughter of William Harry Proeger and Aileane Marie Silva S24

Marriage1940

Predated the 1940 marriage; Earl's direct testimony identifies William Harry as her father S24

Children1961

🆕 One of her daughters by Robert Belcourt was Elain Annett Belcourt, born in Texas in 1961. The state birth index names her parents as Robert George Belcourt and Nancy Aileen Proger [Proeger] Confirmed S1125.

Corrections what an earlier version of this card said

• An earlier version of this card placed her birth in Texas on family testimony; that was an error.
• An earlier version of this card gave a 2025 date in Austin; that was an error, carried over from Earl's mother, Nancy Martin Coffman Proeger.

Photos & documents 4 photos · 2 documents

Photos (4)

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Documents (2)

Documents · 2 page images all documents

Retrieved from the UNT Libraries' Portal to Texas History, or — for the University of Texas Cactus yearbooks — from Texas ScholarWorks. Each thumbnail opens the full page scan, which can also be downloaded. The quoted text is the OCR that ships with the scan, copied verbatim; the page image is the authority.

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George Washington High School yearbook, Guam, 1955 (Internet Archive classmates-yearbook-37313) · **S311** — page 80

Yearbook · 1955

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Report of Nancy Wortman's death, “Woman Takes Own Life At Wallowa Lake”, Wallowa County Chieftain (Enterprise, Oregon), front page — shared on Ancestry by cduarte192 · **S343** — page 1

Newspaper · 11 January 1973

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# George Washington High School (Guam) yearbook, 1955: Nancy A. and P. Proeger (provisional S311) Relationship: Nancy and Patty Proeger, Earl T. Roberts's stepdaughters (daughters of Aileane Silva Proeger). Source: Internet Archive, classmates-yearbook-37313-1955-george-washington-high-school (Classmates.com #37313). PDF copy in raw/gwhs-guam/gwhs-1955.pdf. IMAGE READ (PDF p. 80, senior portraits; crop 1955-gwhs-guam-yearbook-nancy-proeger.jpg): "NANCY A. PROEGER / Transfer 54 from AHS, Asteria [sic, Astoria], Oregon: Junior Class Secretary 3." The caption is hers alone, printed next to her portrait. OCR only, not eye-read: club photo "J. Sablan, J. Cruz, P. Proeger". Not Earl: "Mr. Roberts" in the book is John O. Roberts, a Social Studies teacher from Kirkwood, Missouri.

In the record Generation 2 — Earl's parents' generation

1. S24Family testimony — Earl Proeger, September 2026. Stated directly by the family and recorded on their word. Covers: the Silva maiden name and William Harry Proeger as his father's father (both of which record research had already reached independently); and, on Kristin's side, her father Thomas Caffey — raised in Austin, University of Texas, died at Austin — and her mother Lavonne Walker, Walker being her maiden name. Not a document. No record has been retrieved for any of the Caffey or Walker statements, no dates were supplied for either person, and none has been estimated. Carried throughout as Family testimony, never as Confirmed. Superseded in part on 13 September 2026: the Thomas Caffey statements are now carried on records instead — see S31–S35. The Lavonne Walker statements still rest on this source alone. Extended 17 September 2026: the family further states that she was born Walker, married a Caffey and divorced, then married a Danielson who has since died — which is why her photographs are captioned Danielson. It matches the Caffey obituary's "former wife, LaVonne Danielson" [S31] independently. Her present surname and her widowhood rest on this testimony alone; the second husband's given name, and every date and place attached to that marriage, were not supplied and are not published. Extended 22 September 2026 (eyewitness): Earl was present at the birth of his half-brother John Jacob “Jacob” Proeger, born in 1994 to William Leonard Proeger and Briana Castro Proeger; Earl states the birth was one month before his own wedding ceremony with Kristin, which was held on Guam (the marriage itself was registered in Travis County; see the next entry). No birth record has been retrieved. Extended 22 September 2026 (Earl’s own account of his marriage): “Kristin and I married on Guam in a ceremony but registered our marriage in Travis County […] and we could marry without swearing, a scruple we held as Quakers and which Guam had no accommodation for.” The only date held is the Travis County registration, 1994, from the Texas Marriage Index [S2]; the date of the Guam ceremony was not supplied and is not published.
2. S205Handwritten "cousins list" by Eileen (Aileane) Roberts, c. 1996. A single sheet in her hand listing her four children (Nancy, Patricia, Bill, Kathie) with each child's children and their ages, closing "I thought you might like to know how many cousins you have." Written for Tasha Proeger, Earl's sister; the closing line is addressed to her. Tasha sent it to Earl, and it was published on 22 September 2026 (documents/silva/eileen-roberts-cousins-list-c1996). Undated. c. 1996 is derived from Bill's age (55) and Earl's (29). Birth years derived from its ages are marked as derived. Tessa (11), India (13) and Teal (27) confirmed by Earl Proeger, 23 Sep 2026. Derek (12), Rex (11) and Elain (35, spelled without a final E) confirmed by Earl Proeger, 22 Sep 2026. J J (2) is John Jacob “Jacob” Proeger, Earl’s half-brother and Bill’s son, confirmed by Earl Proeger, 22 Sep 2026. His birth year, 1994, is Earl’s eyewitness testimony [S24], so for him the age is not a derived year. It records Nancy as deceased by c. 1996, which the Oregon Death Index confirms: she died 9 January 1973 [S298].
3. S2151950 U.S. Federal Census — Earl T. Roberts household, 219C Brush St, Alameda, California. Ancestry record 265156503; ED 59-37, sheet 17. Read from the image at full resolution, 22 September 2026. Earl T. Roberts, 32, born Massachusetts, Armed Forces; Aileane, 31; Nancy A. 13, Patricia E. 11 and William [L.] 9, enumerated as Roberts. 🔑 Aileane's three Proeger children in their stepfather's household. ⚠ All three are entered as born California; the site keeps its own birthplaces.
4. S275Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1971 — Nancy Aileen Proeger and Robert George Belcourt. Ancestry record 1350125980. Read from the image at full resolution, 22 September 2026. Oregon Record of Marriage, Clatsop Co. file 3591 (state file 8614): Robert George Belcourt, U.S. Army, and Nancy Aileen Proeger, born Niles, California, 6 April 1937, daughter of William Proeger and Aileen DeSilva, married at Astoria, 9 October 1955.
5. S298Oregon Death Index, 1898–2008: Nancy Ail Wortman, died 9 January 1973, Wallowa County, Oregon, aged 35, born April 1937; certificate 73-01723. Oregon State Library, State of Oregon Death Index 1971–1980 (Ancestry collection 5254, record 610109). Corroborated by the U.S. Social Security Death Index (Ancestry collection 3693, record 68905787): Nancy Wortman, born 6 April 1937, card issued in Oregon 1953–54, died January 1973. The 6 April 1937 birth matches her 1955 Oregon marriage record [S275] exactly. Read 23 September 2026 (documents/proeger/1973-oregon-death-index-nancy-wortman). Index entries only; the certificate itself has not been retrieved. Replaces an erroneous 20 Feb 2025 date that had been attached to her.
6. S311George Washington High School yearbook, Guam, 1955. Internet Archive classmates-yearbook-37313-1955-george-washington-high-school (Classmates.com no. 37313). Page 80, senior portraits, read from the image, 23 September 2026: “NANCY A. PROEGER — Transfer 54 from AHS, Asteria [sic, Astoria], Oregon; Junior Class Secretary 3.” A club-photo caption reading “P. Proeger” (Patty) comes from the OCR text only and has not been checked against the image, so it is Probable. “Mr. Roberts” in this book is John O. Roberts, a social-studies teacher from Kirkwood, Missouri. He is not Earl T. Roberts. Bill Proeger is in the 1955 volume as the freshman “B. Roberts” S313. He has not been found in the 1956 volume.
7. S343“Woman Takes Own Life At Wallowa Lake — Rifle Shot In Parked Car Claims Nancy Wortman.” Wallowa County Chieftain (Enterprise, Oregon), Thursday 11 January 1973, page 1. Page image shared on Ancestry by cduarte192 (media 204294cd), 872 × 924 px; read by eye 24 September 2026 (documents/proeger/1973-01-11-wallowa-county-chieftain-nancy-wortman). Confirmed Nancy Belcourt Wortman of Enterprise, 35, died on Tuesday [9 January 1973], apparently by her own hand with a rifle, in a pickup parked near the boat ramp at the foot of Wallowa Lake; found about 8:30 p.m. after a day-long search. Employed at the Wallowa County Nursing Home; twice divorced; survived by two daughters living at Fort Huachuca, Arizona with their father, Robert Belcourt, and a son and a daughter who had lived with her in Enterprise. Date, county and age agree with the Oregon Death Index [S298], and Robert Belcourt is her 1955 husband [S275]. A contemporary newspaper report, not the death certificate, which has not been retrieved. Published at Earl’s instruction, 24 September 2026.
8. S1125Texas Birth Index, 1961 births, p. 276 (Texas Department of Health) — Elain Annett Belcourt. Ancestry record 158415485. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 29 September 2026. Confirmed “BELCOURT, ELAIN ANNETT”, 1961, female; mother Proger, Nancy Aileen [Proeger]; father Belcourt, Robert George. An index line, not the certificate itself. The county code, 071, has not been checked against the state’s numbering, so no county is given here. The child may be living, so only the name and year are given here.