Prudence Dana, former Oxford Mayor and voting rights advocate, dies

Prudence Dana, an educator, activist and former mayor of Oxford, died on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at age 79. She left behind a long legacy of promoting voting rights and helping those in need.

Dana served on Oxford City Council from 2001 to 2009, including as vice-mayor from 2003 to 2005 and mayor from 2007 to 2009. She had various other roles in the community, such as the education director for the Oxford Presbyterian Church, and co-president of the League of Women Voters of Oxford (LWV).

During her time as mayor and on the city’s planning commission, she championed zoning changes that have allowed for significant development in Uptown, said Alan Kyger, who served as vice-mayor during Dana’s term. Those initiatives included zoning changes to encourage apartment development above businesses Uptown, allowing businesses to receive rent from tenants.

“The outcome of it has been very positive,” Kyger said. “I think we have 18 new buildings in the Uptown district because of it.”

As a member of the Planning Commission, she oversaw the development of a comprehensive plan guiding development in Oxford for years.

Stephen Dana met Prue through LWV. He was drawn to her composure and community development, and that attraction led to a 22-year marriage.

As education director of the Oxford Presbyterian Church, Dana would lead volunteer trips, helping those struck by natural disasters. She even got the youth involved with these trips.

“What struck me was that she was such a determined person who saw the need to help people who have struck by disaster and she saw the necessity of getting the youth of the Oxford Presbyterian Church involved,” Stephen Dana said.

During her time at LWV, Dana encouraged people to get involved in politics and the community. Each election cycle, she drew a voter education guide that she not only presented to adults but also to children at Talawanda Middle School through a kids voting program.

“Besides being a lovely person, she was one of the hardest working and most caring people that I’ve known,” said Bill Snavely, the current Oxford Mayor, said. During a recent City Council meeting, he joked that it took four people to replace Dana after she stopped putting together the voting guide, a testament to the effort she put in.

“She talked about voting, and they tallied up the votes that were given by the students, and they presented them and said ‘these are your choices, when you reach voting age, you will have the opportunity to react to a similar slate of candidates,” Stephen Dana said.

Kate Rousmaniere experienced Dana’s public outreach first-hand when Dana asked her to run for City Council. Following Dana’s encouragement, Rousmaniere served as a council member from 2011 to 2015 and as mayor from 2015 until 2019.

“She said, ‘You should run for City Council,’ and I said, ‘I don’t know, I want to take a year off from being a leader,’” Rousmaniere remembers. “She said, ‘No, you got to do it now or never,’ because there was an opening coming up.”

As a community figurehead, she promoted civic engagement in a non-partisan way, encouraging all people to stay involved in the community.

“People often say, when you approach them, ‘Well, I don’t get involved in politics,’” Stephen Dana said. “Well, Prue taught people that they’re involved in politics whether they like it or not because every decision they make of a consequential nature is going to have an impact on the speaker’s life.”

Dana is survived by her husband, Stephen, as well as her two sons, Ephraim and Erik Zimmerman. She is also survived by daughters-in-law Kara Roggenkamp and Shammara Wright, as well as four grandchildren and two sisters. She was preceded in death by her brother, Bruce Puff.

Dana’s family will hold a public celebration of life service on Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Oxford Presbyterian Church.