Nancy Louise Feeley

Nancy Louise Mast-Feeley was born on August 13, 1947, in Grundy
Center, Iowa. Her parents were Loyd and Frieda Mast, and she had two
siblings. Robert Mast and his wife, Geneva, of Cedar Falls, is her older
brother, and Rick Mast and his wife, Nancy, of Hampton, is her younger
brother. Nancy is survived by these two brothers, her husband, John, four
children, eleven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and numerous
cousins.
Her daughter, Julie Meyer-Kolb, and her husband, Leon, of rural
Janesville, is the oldest of those children; followed by Dave Meyer, and his
wife, Joni, from Kellog, stepdaughter Cynthia Feeley-Hildum, and her
husband, Jim, from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and stepson Tivon Feeley,
and his wife, Devorah, from Grimes, Iowa.
Nancy graduated from Grundy Center High School in 1965, and she
worked at various jobs, including carhopping at a local drive-in during her
high school years, and baby-sitting. She also worked at a local
manufacturing concern in Grundy Center, and at several different senior-
care facilities.
Nancy's parents each came from large families, and her father had
eleven brothers and sisters, as did her mother. With so many aunts and
uncles, family get-togethers were frequent affairs, with a Sunday dinner at
her grandparents' farm north of Conrad being a common occurrence. She
had many special memories of her summer days spent at that farm,
gathering eggs, helping to tend to the livestock, and assisting with the
preparation of many large meals. But most of all, she remembered the
family network, and how important it was to be surrounded by those she
loved.
In 1980, Nancy purchased her first home, and she moved to Conrad
with her two children. It was in Conrad where she met John, and on May
16, 1981, the two were married at the First United Methodist Church of
Conrad. Following their honeymoon trip to California, the couple settled into
their new lives, and they were very active in their church. They served as
Sunday school teachers, UMYF leaders, high school guidance counselors,
and members of the church's board of directors.
In 1987, John had a career change, and following Dave's graduation
from high school in 1988, the couple moved to Des Moines. This was the
first time that either of them had lived in a large city and they fell in love
with it. The dining, the sports, the entertainment, and so many Saturday-
night rock and roll dances at the Val Air Ballroom, it was like an entirely
new chapter in life.
One day, when they went shopping for a new refrigerator, they
instead found a very large oil painting of a white Persian cat, and Nancy
loved cats. So, instead of purchasing a refrigerator that day, they became
the new owners of that painting. At four feet by five feet in size, the painting
was too large to fit into their car, so they hired a delivery service. That
painting is now at their home in Waterloo, and, yes, a few days after buying
that artwork, they purchased a new refrigerator. Over the years, they had a
number of house cats, and that painting and its story always brought a
smile to their children.
Soon, Nancy began looking for a new career of her own, and an ad in
the Des Moines Register caught her attention. A small animal veterinary
hospital was looking for a new technician, and although she had no prior
experience in that field, she was exactly the person they were looking for.
They wanted a candidate who they could train in their methods of animal
care, and she was perfect for the position.
On her first day of work, and dressed in her new blue scrubs, John
wished her well as he headed off to his job. That afternoon, he arrived
home before she did, and when she entered the house, she flung herself
down on a couch, and proclaimed, "I'm never going back there!" After
calming down, she explained that a litter of puppies had been brought in,
and that she had to assist with their tail docking. As if that wasn't enough,
an elderly woman brought in her equally elderly cat, and the decision was
made to euthanize the rapidly failing animal. Nancy spent many minutes
consoling the very distraught woman, and her first day didn't go as she'd
expected.
However, the following morning, Nancy was back in her scrubs, and
off to work she went.
John left work early that day, just to check in with her at her
workplace and to be supportive and to see how she was doing. One of the
vets happened to be at the front desk when John arrived, and following
introductions, John explained the purpose for his visit. The vet chuckled,
and said, "Follow me!" He led John back to one of the large surgical rooms,
where a window allowed a view of the procedure taking place inside. A
farm dog had broken a back leg, and as the vet held the leg extended high
into the air, Nancy worked on the dog's leg, using a bolt-cutter to trim a
metal rod to the proper length! "Your wife is a natural for this profession,
and we love having her on our team!" the vet told John.
And that she was! For nearly ten years, she was highly involved in
the clinic, handling every task they sent her way. Of her various career
moves, this was the one that she enjoyed the most. She loved working with
the animals.
When John was recruited to take a new job in Sioux City, it was a
bittersweet moment. The job offer was too lucrative to pass up, so after
selling the new home they'd bought two-years prior in Urbandale, off they
went.
Nancy took a job with Appletree Preschool and Daycare in Sioux City,
where she made close friends who she maintained contact with up to the
time of her passing. The trio often did an annual 'girl's getaway', with Des
Moines being a popular destination, as well as a trip to Las Vegas. At the
preschool, Nancy's favored class was with the two-year olds, and she also
drove the school's fifteen-passenger van, bringing children to school, and
taking them back home.
The home they lived at in Sioux City was a Queen Anne Victorian,
built in 1872, and at nearly 4,000 square feet in size, it allowed ample
space for a large number of antiques. When they began to run out of room
in their home for more collectables, they partnered with an antique store in
Merrill, Iowa, and entered into the antiques trade.
This home is also where they owned their first dog. Nancy had said
more than once, "John, you can have any dog, as long as it isn't a crazy
Labrador". She had many memories of working with wiggly, squirming
Labradors at the vet clinic, so she set parameters with what breed was
acceptable. So, what did John purchase? A black Labrador named
Remington was the first of three black Labs they would own, and Shiloh,
their current dog, is 100% 'Mom's dog', as were the first two.
When a large acreage in Plymouth County went on the market, the
couple sold their home in Sioux City and purchased that hilltop property in
the Loess Hills. With twenty acres to work with, they kept six acres for their
lawn and gardens, and a farmer leased the remaining fourteen acres for
row-crop production. With only two young trees in their yard, they
purchased trees and shrubs from the nearby Plymouth County
Conservation Commission and began planting each specimen by hand. In
all, over 200 trees were planted, as well as hundreds of shrubs for the
benefit of wildlife. They also established a large flower bed, with dozens of
perennials, and vegetable gardening had always been one of Nancy's
passions.
A buyout of the firm that John worked for brought their next move,
and tired of his constant international travel, the couple decided to move to
Mahaska County, Iowa, where they would reside on a rural acreage for the
next twenty years. This former farm was an ideal location for their love of
trees and flowers, and planting soon began in earnest. One hundred and
fifty red twig dogwoods were added to their west property line, with an
equal number of lilacs planted along the south boundary. Fifty hardwood
trees were added, along with several dozen shrubs. A large vegetable
garden was started, along with strawberries, red raspberries, and
blueberries. They established two orchard areas, raising cherries, plums,
apricots, peaches, pears, and apples, each in several different varieties.
Canning season started in August, and Nancy loved putting up stock from
their bounty. She'd make applesauce, pear sauce, canned apple slices,
spiced apples, canned green beans, beets, sweetcorn, pizza sauce,
spaghetti sauce, salsa, relish, candied jalapenos, and many more items
that she grew on that acreage. Nancy loved working the soil, and she and
John enjoyed their harvest throughout the winter season. The couple also
raised chickens, and they had a number of unusual varieties.
In 1998, John wrote an autobiography about his youth; something to
share with their children and grandchildren. He enjoyed the process so
much that he mentioned to Nancy that maybe they should try writing books,
and she already had a storyline in mind. Working together, and over the
following thirteen years, they would go on to write and publish twelve
mystery novels. Never could she have dreamed that one day they would
have well over one-million words in print, or to be humbled by such a loyal
following of devoted readers.
Nancy had many other interests, too, including travel and nature
photography. The couple traveled to 48 states, visited more than 32
national parks, went to 16 foreign counties, and traveled to several of the
Caribbean islands, as well as going on cruises. When Nancy retired in
August 2009, followed by John's retirement in January of 2010, they then
had more time to explore other interests, including motorcycling and
camping.
The couple motorcycled in many states and through southern
Canada, logging over 75,000 miles on their various machines. Although
Nancy had her own motorcycle, she preferred riding two-up with John, and
beginning around 1996, they usually did several thousand-mile trips each
year, often with their motorcycling friends from Sioux City and Ottumwa.
They owned various campers during their 43 years of marriage, from
pop-up units in the early days, to a diesel-pusher motorhome in the later
years. Much like their motorcycling, their trips led them through eighteen
states and a lifetime of great memories. In 2015, they decided to become
camping 'snowbirds', and they found an ideal retreat in deep south Texas,
right on the American border with Mexico. The plan was to spend
December through February at an RV resort southwest of Mission, Texas,
and to take two weeks going down, and a similar amount of time coming
home. At 1,500 miles each way, there was no reason to rush the journey.
And, they had two black Labrador retrievers as their traveling companions,
so additional breaks at rest stops were needed.
After spending a week at the resort that first year, their minds were
made up: this would be their new winter home for years to come, and soon,
they were spending seven months of the year there. They made so many
new friends at the resort – some of the finest people they'd even known.
The resort offered many activities, and they participated in a number of
those offerings. Nancy spent days at work in the woodshop, where she
produced beautiful wood bowls. She was the facilitator for water aerobics,
co-hosted the resort's writer's and storyteller's group, and the couple even
served in guest services.
They loved to dance and the Rio Grande Valley offered a number of
rock and roll venues to choose from. Two or three dances a week were not
uncommon, but what made everything special were the people they were
with. Covid may have ended their camping excursions, but not the
friendships they'd made with folks from throughout the US and Canada.
When the pandemic wound down and Nancy's cancer was diagnosed, long
travel became impossible for her, so fellow resort campers Tom and
Brenda Lippold drove six-hours each way, twice a year, to visit John and
Nancy in Waterloo. Friends like this are 'family', and Nancy was blessed to
have many friends who fit that category.
In early 2021, and with uncertainty due to the pandemic, the couple
made the decision to sell their camper. In lieu of a camping lifestyle, they
planned to rent a home in Mission, Texas, for the winter season, as they'd
done in Florida in 2010 and 2011. This would allow them to remain in daily
contact with their snowbird friends, and to end the rigors of RV travel.
Nancy then had the idea of selling their acreage and moving closer to
family. They'd reached a point in life where not having to drive 40 miles
roundtrip for gas or groceries was appealing. Their acreage went on the
market the day after Thanksgiving, 2021, and on January 12 th, 2022, they
moved to Waterloo.
They immediately became active in their neighborhood association
and formed many new friendships with their neighbors. Shopping,
restaurants, and entertainment were once again within a short five-minute
drive from their house, and they couldn't have been more pleased with their
decision to move.
At the time of their move to Waterloo, covid remained a major
concern and it was a drain on medical resources, and locating a doctor who
would accept new patients proved very challenging. In February, Nancy
began a long journey to discover what was causing the terrible pain in her
stomach and back, and exploratory surgery in June revealed a tumor on
her pancreas. The biopsy came back positive, and the couple immediately
turned to the Mayo clinic in Rochester. They reached out to a doctor who is
known as the leading pancreatic surgeon in the world, and a week later, he
performed a second exploratory surgery on Nancy. His findings were that
the tumor was wrapped around key veins and an artery, and any attempt at
surgery would kill her during the procedure. The cancer had spread to her
liver, as well. Her type of pancreatic cancer was the most aggressive kind,
and all they could do was administer chemotherapy to try and buy her a bit
more time.
The Mayo oncologists told her that thirteen rounds of chemo were
planned, but that most patients didn't make it past 6 to 8 rounds. Not only
did she do all 13 of those mega-dose rounds, her 43 rd round of chemo was
planned for August 13 th of this year, which was her 77 th birthday.
An MRI and a full-body bone scan on August 12 th showed that her
chemo no longer was effective. The cancer had spread to her bones, and
she entered at-home Hospice care on the 13 th. Her doctor told her that she
might have two months to live.
John doesn't want Nancy to be remembered for her illness, but for
the vibrant, loving, and caring woman that she was. She supported a
number of charities during her life, including the MDA, the National Cancer
Institute, Wounded Warriors, Toys for Tots, Saint Jude's, and so many
others. From 1985 through 1991, the couple sponsored a young girl in
Brazil, so that she received three meals a day and a school education.
Nancy had a very tender, sharing heart, and all who knew her could see
that. As a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother, her heart was
always on her family.
May her memory always bring a smile to your face.
Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. in the Bates Funeral Chapel in Oskaloosa with Pastor Rusty Van Wey officiating. Burial will follow services in the Wymore Cemetery near Rose Hill. Visitation will be held an hour prior to service time starting at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 8 in the Bates Funeral Chapel with Nancy's family present to greet relatives and guests. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Muscular Dystrophy Assocation.