Nancy S Slusser

2020. She died of sepsis and heart attack complications at Gulfcoast Medical Center .

Nancy was born March 4, 1936 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Clyde Louis Stauff and Florence Kelly Stauff.

She graduated from Portage High School in 1954. She spent two years at University of Wisconsin -

Milwaukee. She, at that time lived with her Aunt Fern and Uncle Bruno Peters. Her sister Susie says

that Nancy “thought that college was pretty easy” and that she did not have to study much. She

graduated from The St. Luke’s Hospital, College of X-ray Technicians in June 1957, Milwaukee. Nancy

married James M. Snow on April 11, 1958 and they lived in Portage, Wisconsin. They then lived in

Sheboygan, Wisconsin, raising their two young girls. Nancy was involved in the Sheboygan Junior

Woman’s Club, with her last role there of the recording secretary. They loved the Green Bay Packers and

went to many a game with her sister Diane and brother-in-law Marvin Cohen. Jim and Nancy tired of

the cold weather, and decided to move to Florida where Jim’s sister and father lived. They settled in

Fort Myers FL, buying a lot, and building a house in The Villas in the summer of 1965. They first rented

on Bates Circle in Fort Myers, across from Orangewood Elementary School. Nancy continued to be a

homemaker, sewing many of her, and her daughters’ clothes and teaching her eldest daughter how to

sew. Nancy also was crafty and “stylish” and painted a progressive canvas picture for their living room

wall. Nancy’s décor in the living room was on trend with purple carpeting and orange grass cloth

wallpaper. Jim was fortunate enough to earn enough money as a court reporter to put in a swimming

pool about 1975. Many a night was spent in the pool before bed time, as they had no air conditioning in

their home. The television set was state of the art and small enough so that it resided on a wheeled cart

that was pulled to the porch by the pool as the family spent a lot of time there . Tennis was a big part

of the Snow household and Nancy played tennis in the Lee County Womens Tennis League. Nancy

assisted with Jim’s career by proofreading his typists’ work. This proved to be interesting at times, as it

involved sometimes interesting court cases. Sadly, Jim died September 26, 1977 on his birthday, at the

age of 48. Nancy sold the house in The Villas in 1978 and bought a town home in Parkwoods

development where she lived with her two daughters until she moved to a condominium in the

Southpointe/Rutenberg area of Fort Myers. She married Richard Slusser in November of 1987, and lived

in The Landings and then the Myerlee area with Dick until his death in 1994. Nancy enjoyed tutoring

children with reading difficulties in the Harlem Heights area. She enjoyed going antiquing with her

sister- in- law Eleanor who lived in Saint Petersburg. She enjoyed spending time with her sister Diane,

who then lived in Cape Coral, Florida. She spent time with her friend Clemy Pedersen in Fort Myers, and

also traveled to Wisconsin occasionally to spend time with her sisters Susie and Jackie and their cousins

for family gatherings. After Dick’s death she continued to live in the Myerlee area and was involved in

the Kiwanis Club of Lee County. She also spent time with her friend Peg Bartels. Nancy then had a

twenty year relationship with Joseph Zivic. She and Joe were actively involved with the Lee Health

Foundation until his death in 1995. Despite losing three mates throughout her life, Nancy remained

positive, and found joy in spending time with her family, doing crossword puzzles, walking, and taking

care of her overly active dog Tiny. Nancy excelled at crossword puzzles, and at the end of her life,

despite her having had a stroke, she still able to work them.

Nancy is survived by her two daughters, Sheila Snow-Martineau (Joel) of Fort Myers FL., and Lea Snow

Orchard of Land O Lakes FL., six awesome grandchildren, Emilie Martineau. Jimmy Martineau, Jack

Orchard, Sam Orchard, Nicole Orchard and Jim Orchard. She is survived by her sister Susie Pieper

(Richard) and sister Jackie Talamantes. She was predeceased by her sister Diane Cohen in 2018 and

beloved brother-in-law Marvin Cohen in 2015. Nancy was loved by her nieces and nephews Steffi Cohen

(Stephen), Mark Cohen ( Celeste) , Dan, Ann Eisenbrown ( Robert), Rick Pieper (Alex), Bridget Sullivan

(Mark). Her nieces always called her their “fancy aunt” Nancy. Nancy is survived by her caregiver Angela

Santacroce, who treated her as if she were her own mother. Nancy was fortunate to have Angela to be

able to go into her place of residence at Cypress Point Senior Living through this pandemic .

No formal service is planned at this time . We will celebrate Nancy’s life in a private gathering of family.