Born on 30 August 1936, in Evanston, Illinois, Nancy was the daughter of Frederick and Alice Marie Crook, who moved to Hermosa Beach, California, after WWII. Nancy Crook was accepted to Stanford university in the fall of 1954 but transferred to the University of Southern California. “As a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, she became president of Panhellenic and was extremely active in the student senate. She was also a Helen of Troy member for her academic achievements,” Edelbrock says.