Nancy Torchia

On June 26, 2023, heaven gained another angel and we lost a loving wife, mother, and best friend, Nancy (Minassian) Torchia. Nancy was born on May 17, 1946 in Berkeley, CA, to proud parents Henry and Martha. She grew up in El Cerrito and graduated from El Cerrito High School in 1964. On August 22, 1964, she married her high school sweetheart Domenic. The two were happily married for 58 years. Of her many accomplishments, the ones she was most proud of were her three boys, Ron, Curtis, and Ryan.In 1968, Nancy and family moved to Fremont after her husband was employed at the FAA air traffic control center. In 1971 they moved into her "dream home" on Cripps Place. They met their new neighbors Spider and Jan Cantley. That Christmas they teamed up into what became an iconic "Crippsmas Place" holiday wonderland for hundreds of thousands of visitors. Each year they would give out 80,000 candy canes and helped Spider raise over $20,000,000 for Leukemia research.Nancy spent her work life in the medical profession which included a long career in medical billing and collections, She worked at Washington Township Hospital in Fremont, where she was elected facility representative for Teamsters Local 586, and then Vencor/Kindred in Hayward. After living in Fremont for 35 years she retired to Columbia, CA to live in her hilltop home on a two acre parcel. Gardening wasn't enough for her, so after a very short retirement, she went to work for Urologist Dr. Tim Moreno as office manager until his untimely passing in 2020. Then she did finally retire to do the two hobbies she enjoyed most - gardening and cats.While she never had a mean-spirited word to say about anyone, and was a true friend to those who knew her, saving and caring for her cats was her true passion and calling. Of the dozens she adopted, her two favorites were Sadie (a kitten rescued from under the floor of her office at WTH) and Charlie. Nancy is survived by her husband Don, three sons, and son-in-law Michael Macklin.Nancy did not want a service where the people she loved would be sad, but instead, wants the happiness of life passed on through donations in her memory to the Tuolumne County Cat Rescue, at 10040 Victoria Way, Jamestown, CA 95327.