Nancy Nienhauser

Nienhauser, Nancy (Brown) passed away peacefully on the evening of October 5, 2009. Nancy was born on January 20, 1915 in St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up on the southside. Her father, William Hugh Riggs Brown, was a conductor on the Eagle (Missouri-Pacific) and her mother, Julie Harding, a housewife. She graduated from Roosevelt High School and worked for a while at the downtown Stix, Baer and Fuller as a sales clerk. On June 27, 1936 she married William H. Nienhauser Sr. and soon became better known as Aunt Nancy to her nine nieces. In 1950 the family moved to New Milford, New Jersey. After sojourns related to her husband's job in Willoughby, Ohio and Palatine, Illinois, Bill and Nancy returned to the St. Louis area in the late 1960s. After Bill passed away in 1981, Nancy played an active role in a widow and widower's group in Ballwin, Missouri, where she lived until 2007. When driving became difficult at age 92, she moved to Rancho Santa Margarita, California to be near her two daughters. Although she continued to work at times throughout her long life, her greatest contributions were as a loyal wife and loving mother. In that sense she was a true Home-maker writ large. Blessed with a heart to match her striking looks (even at 94 she managed to turn heads), Nancy's legacy of charm, wit and optimism will be cherished by her children, William H. Nienhauser, Jr. (Judith), Betty Thomas (Douglas), and Sally Jane Nienhauser (Alan), her grand-children, Daniel Edward Nienhauser (Karen) and Susan Jane Finlayson, and her great-grandchildren, Kate Emma Nienhauser, Austin James Finlayson, and Alec Brockway Nienhauser. Services: A memorial celebration of Nancy's life will be held DECEMBER 12, 2009, 10:30 a.m. at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, 100 Carondelet Plaza, Clayton, MO 63105.