Nancy Ann Mohler

Nancy Bruner Mohler, the sweetest, most humble person you would ever meet, died on May 21, 2022 at home. She was 79 years old. Nancy was born in Macon, Georgia on July 30, 1942 to Hugh Bruner, a freshly trained soldier in the fledgling 10th Mountain Infantry, and Maxine Bruner, the daughter of an Irish missionary, who grew up spreading the Gospel in India. The oldest of 4 siblings, she was raised in the Kansas City suburb of Prairie Village, Kansas, where she attended Shawnee Mission East High School. Nancy followed the Bruner family tradition, matriculating at the University of Kansas, where she was a member of Alpha Phi and was selected to Omicron Nu, the home economics honor society. Rock Chalk Jayhawk! After earning a Bachelor of Science in nutrition at KU, she married her high school sweetheart, Phil Mohler on June 5, 1965. As Nancy attended graduate school to become a registered dietician and Phil attended medical school, things were tight financially. A hot date might be eating five cent burgers while hanging out at the laundromat together. After graduating, Nancy and Phil moved to Fresno, California, where they adopted Elizabeth in 1969. Duty called when Uncle Sam made Nancy and Phil an offer they couldn’t refuse: A three year stint in the U.S. Army in Fürth, West Germany, helping to deter the Communist threat to Western Europe. Making lemonade from a sour situation, they traveled throughout Europe together in a red Volkswagen Beetle. While maintaining freedom in democratic Europe, they celebrated the arrival of their second child, Andrew, in 1971. Duty completed, they returned to the Land of Oz, where the birth of Peter in 1973, in Wichita, completed the Mohler family.

In 1974 Nancy and Phil, traveled west, where Nancy taught the citizens of Grand Junction about fiber, carbohydrates and saturated fats, while raising three young children. She studied nights and weekends to earn the degree of Certified Diabetic Educator, while she compassionately practiced her art at St. Mary’s Hospital, in Dr. Joe Marurca’s office, in numerous local nursing homes and at Family Physicians of Western Colorado. Her informal title, “The Queen of Nutrition”, was validated when in 2006 she was awarded the National Diabetes Educator of the Year by the American Dietetic Association at a ceremony in Honolulu, Hawaii. She practiced what she preached, sometimes substituting fruit for the butter that the cookie recipe called for. If the kids wanted something more palatable, such as Oreos, they had to hide them at the bottom of the grocery cart, under the cruciferous vegetables, so her patients wouldn’t catch a glimpse in the check-out line.

As a quintessential member of the “Silent Generation”, Nancy was frugal and hardworking. A hole in a sock, meant a blister-inducing darning job instead of a new pair of socks. Why buy Jello pudding cups, when you can make a packet of pudding and freeze it in styrofoam cups for half the price? A typical day started early for Nancy. She would prepare a nutritious breakfast, get the kids off to school, race to the nursing home, where she would create custom diets for the residents’ various needs, hustle home to make dinner, get the kids to bed and then complete her patient charting late into the night. She taught her children to work hard. One didn’t miss a day of school or work without a very good reason. Peter’s ear bitten off by a dog, meant a hug and wrestling headgear. “That’s not an excused absence, Van Gogh!” She encouraged her children to save money by buying them a doughnut from Vick’s Pastries each time they would make even a small deposit into their Valley Federal Saving Accounts, a training technique that would have made Pavlov himself quite proud.

Nancy made the most of the Western Colorado lifestyle, cross-country skiing on the Grand Mesa, camping among the wildflowers of San Juan Mountains and in the shadows of the red sandstone walls of Onion Creek, and picking and drying sweet Palisade apricots and peaches. She was a dedicated pianist and was a closet technophile, taking some of the earliest computer science classes at then Mesa College. She was a long-time dedicated servant at American Lutheran Church, where she exemplified the true spirit of the New Testament, without a sanctimonious corpuscle in her body.

It was not until Nancy became Grammy, that she found her true calling. Her eight grandchildren recall her compassionate, patient demeanor as she would read them books, drive them to the Dinosaur Museum or the library in her yellow Beetle, or teach them how to bake the most delicious cherry pies, reminding them that the secret to a great crust was baking only when one is in a good mood.

The last 7 years of her life were challenging, as her beautiful mind was stolen by the malicious thief, dementia. Even as her cognitive function declined to the point that didn’t recognize even her family, fearful about where she was, Nancy’s loving personality shone through. She smiled through her anxiety, telling us how much she loved us repeatedly. She retained her gift of empathy amidst severe confusion.

Nancy is survived by Phil, her husband of 56 years, daughter, Elizabeth, sons Andrew (Amy) and Peter (Nancy), grandchildren, Cole, Rylee, Bret, Jack, Madeline, Ella, Caroline, and John, sister, Peggy (Dave), brother, Sam (Diane), and brother-in-law, Dennis (Julia). She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Shirley (Dennis).

The Mohler family is grateful for the loving support of Pastor Kaila, Deacon Gail, Pat and Mike, Ruth, Lorraine and Doug, Jackie, Steve Stranger, Deb and Mike and Nancy’s sister Peggy. Sharon was hired as an in home caregiver and morphed into Nancy’s BFF. Sharon was a truly loving professional. We appreciate Michelle, our HopeWest nurse who dependably came through, meeting our needs.

In honor of Nancy, please eat a high fiber snack with your loved ones. Contributions in Nancy's name may be made to Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church (3133 F Rd, Grand Junction, CO 81504) or HopeWest Hospice (3090 North 12th Street #B, Grand Junction, CO 81506).

A celebration of Nancy’s life will be held at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 3133 F Rd, Grand Junction, CO on May 31st at 1pm.Celebrants are encouraged to wear bright colored clothing.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.callahan-edfast.com for the Mohler family.