Nancy Ann Cook

8/4/1946 - 3/16/2017

Equally at home at the Met or on a goat farm, chauffeured through Rome or 4-wheeling in Death Valley, sleeping in a Mongolian yurt or a 5-star hotel, Nancy made the world her own. She knew how to live and she offered this gift to anyone who paid attention.

Nancy was adopted in infancy and raised by a well-to-do family in New Jersey and Cape Cod. Many choices were available to her because of her native intelligence and family status, but to the surprise of all she chose to leave the East Coast and come out west. Nancy completed her education at her beloved Mills College in 1968. Always eclectic and adventurous, Nancy spent seven years on a farm in northern California before returning to the other coast and working as a Master Gardener at Cornell. Her love of classical music and travel combined with an innate language facility led her to opera and such varied venues as Santa Fe, Bayreuth and Milan. Her deep curiosity about the world resulted in three trips to Antarctica, one of which was on an icebreaker, but I don’t believe she was seasick a day in her life.

It would be easier to name countries she did not visit than those she did, and travel for Nancy was not a casual experience or way to pass the time. She studied in advance and experienced the new place in a profound way, taking hundreds of photographs which she then altered and printed on her own equipment. Although gifted in so many ways, Nancy was easy talk to and filled with good humor which she shared with her friends and acquaintances from many walks of life. She had a presence that could not be ignored.

Although a confirmed atheist throughout her life, Nancy was forever thankful to a spiritual program of sobriety for her recovery. California was her chosen home, not only for its beauty, but also for its progressive politics and support of alternative lifestyles. Nancy is deeply missed by all the cats and the people who knew her. Her indomitable spirit lives on.