Nancy Ann Kimball Shontz was born November 14, 1927 in Akron, Ohio. Shontz earned her baccalaureate in psychology at Dennison University and completed 5 years of graduate study in clinical psychology at Case Western Reserve University.

She married Franklin C. Shontz in 1954, and moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1960. In 1981 she was elected to a four-year term on the Lawrence City Commission. Shontz's major interests in the community were regarding the control of urban development, storm water management, and historic preservation. She was responsible for restoring several residences in East Lawrence, particularly in her capacity as partner with Marci Francisco in First City LLP. She was Executive Director of the Shelley Miller Charitable Trust and Treasurer of the Lawrence Preservation Alliance and the Hobbs Park Memorial Fund.

A member of the Lawrence Chapter of the League of Women Voters for 39 years, she served as its president from 1975-1977 and continuously as a member of its land use committee. Other memberships included the Kansas Land Trust, the Community Development Advisory Board, the Douglas County Environmental Community Council, the Downtown Improvement Committee, the Douglas County Preservation Alliance, Horizon 2020, ACLU, and the Audubon Society. Shontz was associated with the Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence from her arrival in Lawrence.

Shontz died February 1, 1999 in Lawrence, Kansas. Together with her husband, she had two daughters, Jennifer and Sally, and one son, Kimball.