Nancy Bünzli

Nancy Bünzli died peacefully in her home in Inver Grove Heights, MN on January 21, 2026.

She is survived by children Ann, John, Jim, Peggy (spouse Alysha), and Bill (spouse Deborah); and grandchildren, Alex, Zoe, Beckett, Xavier, and Joshua "Moss". Fred, her husband of 68 years, died in August 2025.

Nancy was born in Louisville, KY in 1933 to Edith Timblin and Paul Hammond Ford. Her father managed large construction projects throughout the US, so growing up, Nancy and her family moved around the country. She recalls playing with the children of sharecroppers in Georgia, being at Fort Thomas when news of Pearl Harbor broke, and how, at the height of the depression, her father took a job clearing machinery at a factory overnight, (and, as he came home covered in machine grease, her mother would have him take off all his clothes on the porch). The family lived in Kentucky, Ohio, and Georgia, where her father supervised the building of a prison. By the time Nancy was in college, they had settled in Garden City, New York.

Nancy attended Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University), spent a year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, and earned a BA in French from Adelphi College. She was offered a fellowship to study at the Université de Bordeaux, but instead took a job teaching French at Stuart Hall, a women's boarding school in Staunton, VA. It was around this time that, back in Garden City for the holidays, she met Fred (who, as the story goes, fell asleep next to her in church on Christmas Eve). They married in 1957 and began the series of adventures that would make up their almost 70 years together, travelling the world. In the first 20 years of their marriage, they lived in eight different countries.

In addition to being a homemaker for most of these years, she continued to teach French, English as a Second Language, and to substitute in numerous subjects. She also continued to study. At age 50, she earned an MA from Washington University in St. Louis. An avid reader and a true student of human nature, she also wrote prolifically. Recently, her book Vin Ordinaire, a chronicle of her life with Fred, was released. She had been working on the "sequel" up to the time of her death.

In retirement, Nancy became "first mate" on a series of sailboats she and Fred owned. They sailed extensively along Florida's gulf coast, often crossing from Pensacola to Clearwater overnight, and making a few harrowing trips across a major shipping lane to the Bahamas, just the two of them. During this time, they continued to visit their far-flung children and grandchildren. In recent years, they spent several months out of the year in Switzerland, a place Nancy came to think of as home.

Friends and family will remember Nancy as a warm and loving person, someone who took an interest in everything and everyone around her. She lived her life embracing adventure, seeing the best in people, and making the most of the unexpected.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggest donations to one of the following:

Association for the Prevention of Torture: https://www.apt.ch/donate

Children's Minnesota: https://give.childrensmn.org/page/34886/donate/1

Timber Hills Education Assistance Scholarship Fund

https://preshomes.org/give/#give-today

Please specify: "PH Site/Location:" Timber Hills "My Gift is for:" Educational Assistance