Nancy Nord, 75
Nancy Jo (Walters) Nord died on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024.
She and her brother Merrill Dean (“The Twins”) were born on Sept. 11, 1938, in Sioux Falls, S.D., to Alfred Alvin and Grace Ellen (Guinter) Walters. Nancy was raised in the Mennonite faith in Freeman, S.D., and was baptized as a young adult at Bethany Mennonite Church. After high school, she studied at Sioux Valley Hospital School of Nursing in Sioux Falls and graduated as an RN.
In 1959 she married Donald Otten and they moved to southern California where their three children, Jo, Margaret and Donald, were born. They later divorced. It was in California where her dear friend, Amy (Nord) Perkins, introduced Nancy to her bachelor farmer brother visiting from Minnesota. Don and Nancy married in 1971 and Nancy, along with her three children, moved to the farm in Goodhue. Later, the Nord family was completed with the birth of their daughter, Amy.
Though she grew up as a small-town kid, Nancy embraced farm life and was an equal partner with Don. She had a determined, can-do attitude and became a skilled farrowing house manager, corn/soybean wagon driver, gardener, canner, cook, bread baker, seamstress and farm bookkeeper. In addition to farming, Nancy worked many years as an RN in Red Wing and then Rochester, primarily in the ICU. Music was integral to her life, and she served as the organist and choir director of St. Luke Lutheran Church for over 30 years.
Nancy modeled service and care for others as an important expression of her faith. She was known for mailing thoughtful letters and cards and a willing volunteer for school, church and the community. Don and Nancy’s home was full of books, good food, and music. They generously opened their home to many near and far with hospitality that usually included a delicious meal, conversation, and laughs. Nancy was a life-long, voracious reader. She enjoyed completing the daily Strib crossword puzzle and watching birds from the farm kitchen window and porch.
Survivors include her four children: Jo Nord, Margaret Nord (Paul Kaldjian), Donald Otten (Jessica) and Amy Nord (Dan Whitney); granddaughters Marni and Anne Kaldjian; brother, Merrill Walters; sisters-in-law: Barbara Walters, Joanne Nord and Charlotte Ipsen; and daughter from Spain, Sandra Martinez.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Donald Nord, sister-in-law Amy Perkins and brothers-in-law Rev. Erland Nord and Charles Nord.
Visitation with family will be Nov. 1 at St. Luke Lutheran Church, Goodhue, Minn., from 4 to 7 p.m. Nancy’s funeral will be on Nov. 2 at 11 a.m. at St. Luke, with lunch served after the service. Burial will be at Zion Lutheran Church in rural Goodhue immediately after the service.
Memorials may be given to either of two organizations meaningful to Nancy: Lutheran World Relief or Mennonite Central Committee.
