Nancy Marie Tucker

Born on October 6, 1934, in Mansfield, Ohio to Donald A. and Sylvia (Bishop) Tucker, she was a graduate of St. Peter’s High School. Nancy earned a BSN from St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Ind., and later, an MA in art history from the University of California, Berkeley.

Nancy worked as a nurse throughout her life, in settings that included hospitals, a hotel, and cruise ships. At various points she was also a flight attendant, sculptor, art teacher, and filmmaker. Nancy traveled extensively in her 20s and 30s, making friends around the world that she kept up with throughout her life. She married Nanao Sakaki, of Togo, Japan, in 1970. They had one daughter and divorced in 1976.

Nancy settled in New York City in the late 1970s, working first as a private duty nurse and later as a public school nurse inspector. She was active on her building’s tenants committee and served for many years on the board of the Little Missionary's Day Nursery school. She bought a 200-year-old house in Townsend, Mass., and spent many years renovating and adding on to it. She spent her summers in Townsend and traveled back and forth from New York the rest of the year.

After retiring, Nancy moved west to her daughter’s home in the Seattle area. She delighted in spending time with her three grandchildren. She was a master cookie baker and story reader and was always up for building a fort, playing a game, or walking in the woods. She loved dogs her whole life and, in her later years, enjoyed the devotion of her own and her daughter’s standard poodles. Nancy was an avid downhill skier into her 70s, only finally retiring from the sport after breaking a hip in 2010. She continued to make friends wherever she went, even during the pandemic.

She is survived by her daughter, Maggie Tai Sakaki Tucker; three grandchildren, Carter, Robert, and Suzette Gwertzman; her brother, Tom Tucker; and her son-in-law, James Gwertzman. She was preceded in death by her parents.

A graveside service will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at Mansfield Catholic Cemetery. The family is planning a memorial service at St. Peter’s in late April.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Glaucoma Foundation, whose research enabled Nancy to keep her eyesight until the end of her life, at https://glaucomafoundation.org/donate/.