Nancy Kollock lived fully for 93 years. She died peacefully at home with family after a sudden brief illness, her grace, joy, and positive outlook intact.
Her father was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, and his job required that the family move often when Nancy was a child. She developed skills of adapting to new surroundings and new people – and she loved people! When she married and settled down in Georgia, she finally had a place to put down roots. Her life was full with running a business, being active and engaged in the community, and supporting others.
Nancy’s creativity found outlets through “home making,” hospitality, kindness, and enthusiasm. From working with a host of neighborhood kids in her craft room as a young mother to card-making in her eighties and nineties, she found ways to include others in her passions. Her sight was compromised in later years, but her “vision” and her faith never faltered, and her appetite for learning and desire for compassion in the world deepened as the years passed.
In the words of others, Nancy was
“always helping and never judging”
“endless patience”
“a rare and special person”
“down-to-earth”
“she had a wonderful way of making everyone she met feel valued and special”
“one of the really beautiful things about (her) is that we can feel her love and encouragement just by thinking of her”
“she happily walked the real Christian path, and made it look like it was the easiest, most natural thing in the world”
“she was the one who raised the joy meter reading always”
“Nancy (will) leave a wake of goodwill and joy that will echo through these hills forever”
“Nancy and John made our communities such a better place as they reminded us not only through art but living a simpler, less complicated life themselves”
“she carried her blessings with her”
“she was a smile that could conquer sadness with a heart that embraced us all”
“when she gets to heaven she will have no trouble establishing street cred as an angel” “I
was lucky to be present to hear a verse or two of … Nancy’s song”
“Aunt Nancy was the best of us.”
For those who did and those who did not hear her song, may the memory of our loved ones inspire and motivate each of us to live a little bigger and a little better because of their examples.
Nancy is survived by her three daughters and their families and her cat, Camilla. One of her daughters has said, “When I miss my father, I find him painting a beautiful sunset. Now, my mom will be the light that makes it glow.”
There will be a service at Grace-Calvary Episcopal Church on Saturday, March 25, at twelve noon, with a reception to follow. The interment in the church cemetery will be a private ceremony.
In lieu of flowers, it was Nancy’s wish that people give to organizations and projects which support the well-being of life on earth.
Funeral arrangements are in the care and professional direction of Hillside Memorial Chapel & Gardens, Clarkesville. 706-754-6256.
