Papers and notes crowd the desk in Nancy Tolliver's office at her longtime home on Walters Road, a reflection of the myriad concerns involved in her work as a guiding force in the field of women's reproductive health. Newly 70, she retired late last month.

"I was starting to have a little divide ...

... between what my church was teaching me ...

... and what I was feeling."

Snapshot shows 3-year-old Nancy Skram Tolliver with her brother, Paul, at their home in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

In 1965, Nancy Tolliver graduated from nursing school at St. Anthony's Hospital.

At Rockhurst College, Nancy Skram Tolliver (back row, second from left) was a member of the cheerleading squad.

In 1964, 22-year-old Nancy Skram married Frank Tolliver, a native of Mullens.

In 1964, 22-year-old Nancy Skram married Frank Tolliver, a native of Mullens. Here they are shown together in the 1990s. He died about six years ago.

In 2008, at age 64, Nancy Tolliver participated in a state Roe v. Wade celebration with Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the 16th U.S. surgeon general.

Gazette photo by LAWRENCE PIERCE.......'TOLLIVER1'.......8x6.08.......Nancy Tolliver.......INNERVIEWS.......1/8/13.......