USC Union Announces Speaker for April 27 Commencement

University of South Carolina Union will welcome Mrs. Nancy Comer as the commencement speaker for the university’s Commencement Exercises. The ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 27 at 4:00 pm on the grounds of Patron’s Park at USC Union.

Nancy Comer moved to Union from Memphis at the age of seven years old and has remained loyal to Union ever since. She attended Excelsior Elementary School, Central Junior High School, and Sims Junior High School, and graduated from Union High School in 1974. She is married to Bill Comer, a Union native, and they have two children and six grandchildren. Nancy is the daughter of Jackson Rash and the late Betty Rash.

She attended USC Union and graduated from USC Spartanburg with an Associate Degree In Nursing. After moving to Columbia, Nancy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and a Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of South Carolina. She worked at Baptist Hospital as a Pediatric Head Nurse and Nursing Staff Development Instructor, and also as Staff Nurse in Richland Memorial Hospital’s newborn nursery and medical-surgical unit.

In 1982, Nancy and her family relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, where she worked at Presbyterian Hospital as a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist teaching parents how to care for their child after discharge from the hospital. She also served as a Clinical Pediatric Nursing Instructor in the Carolinas Medical Center School of Nursing.

In 1996, she and her family relocated to San Diego, California. Nancy devoted herself to making sure that her family was securely adjusted to their new environment and became involved in many volunteer opportunities. The church, junior high school and high school were readily available to put her talents to good use. Nancy served as a deacon at La Jolla Presbyterian Church, a volunteer school nurse, president of the Torrey Pines High School Athletic Organization, and a member of the Torrey Pines High School Foundation Board. After her children had graduated from Torrey Pines High School, Nancy was asked to continue serving on the Foundation Board for several more years to continue the progress that had been made under her leadership. Nancy continued her education and became certified by the University of California – San Diego as lactation educator.

In 2020, Nancy and Bill returned to South Carolina and live in Lexington. She is a devoted advocate for USC Union and serves on the University of South Carolina’s Palmetto College Board of Visitors.  They established the Marshall and Juanita Comer Memorial Endowed Scholarship which is available to Union County students who wish to attend USC Union. She is also active in efforts to restore and preserve the historic Dawkins House on the USC Union campus so that it can be put into productive use by the college. Nancy is active in her church, Cherokee Presbyterian Church, where she leads the Women of the Church ministry. She continues to maintain an active Registered Nurse license in South Carolina.

Attendance at Commencement is by ticket only. The ceremony will begin promptly at 4:00 pm. No children under the age of three will be admitted.