When Nancy Wynen arrived on Lopez this January the island was covered with white, which was quite a change from her previous home in sunny Florida. But Nancy and her husband Fons have had no trouble embracing their new life.

“I keep telling people on Facebook that I live in a postcard,” said Nancy, who is the new vicar at Grace Episcopal Church.

The couple moved to Lopez on a Saturday and Nancy gave her first sermon the next day, which she said felt great.

Her sermons reflect her colorful life that includes a background as a librarian and travels around the world.

“I really appreciate the diversity that the world offers, including the people and georgraphy,” Nancy said. “Spiritually – the diversity of people and their worship styles and beliefs are definitely kept in my awareness everyday.”

Nancy grew up in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City. Her summers were spent in camp and on family vacations, and school days were filled with Girl Scouts, “and lessons, lots and lots of lessons.

Probably two years each of ballet, piano, and French – all ending in a little knowledge but no real skills,” Nancy said.

It was during summer camp that Nancy wrote a spiritual editorial for the camp newspaper on how people are like pieces in a quilt, all unique and different in personality and talent, but together make a beautiful object or community. She said this is still the cornerstone of her ministry: to have everyone in the community find a way to use their talents for the church and community.

Nancy graduated from the University of Massachusetts and worked as a library clerk in New York. She met Fons Wynen, a Dutchman who was a business intern at her grandfather’s travel agency, also in New York. The first two years of their marriage were spent in The Netherlands, where she got to know Fons’ family and learned to speak Dutch. Eventually they moved back to the New York City area.

Fons worked in the travel business, and Nancy became a librarian. For the next 15 years, she was an administrator in two public libraries.

“I loved how I had a skill that would help other people,” she said.

One fateful day, she helped a woman who needed to find baby girl names. The woman was in a rush to find a name because she was on her way to Colombia to adopt a baby. That interaction inspired Fons and Nancy to adopt two children from the same agency. In 1985, they moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. For the next 25 years, the Wynens lived and raised their children among the palm trees and sandy beaches of south Florida.

“The kids surfed, swam, sailed, and did all the normal activities, like gymnastics, dance, theater, art,” she said.

Nancy continued work as a librarian at the local state university. She was also increasingly involved with her church. In 1998, she began classes at a regional school for theology, but later realized that she had a calling for full-time ministry.

“I went off to New York – actually back to New York – for three years,” she said. “It was fun being a full-time student again, though I missed home a lot.”

Their daughter Katie was in college in Massachusetts, and they visited each other often. Their son Alex stayed home with Fons.

When Alex died during this time, Nancy said that “somehow we all managed to get through the grief, even though we were separated by long distances.”

After being ordained, Nancy returned to Florida and served in two parishes, a large one as an assisting priest, and one smaller, “smaller than Grace,” Nancy said, as their vicar. When Fons retired, he told Nancy that she could look for a position “anywhere.”

“So here we are! We just bought a house and are busy getting ready to move in,” she said. “We love how much there is to do, and have enjoyed meeting a wonderful variety of people.”

When she is not at Grace Church, Nancy enjoys “anything involving my hands, like knitting, sewing – I even have tried papier mache, thanks, Polly Ham, and pottery, thanks Nancy Bingham.”

Nancy and Fons are still planning to travel as much as they can, and but, for now, are content to explore Lopez.

“We loved Lopez from the first minute we arrived,” she said. “And we’re still in the honeymoon phase.”

Grace Episcopal Church will have a Celebration of New Ministry Service on Aug. 30, at 2 p.m. Nancy will officially be installed as vicar of the church. The event will be led by the Right Reverend Gregory Rickel, Bishop of the Diocese of Olympia.