Remembering the life of Nancy Keltner, a woman who blessed our town in so many ways
A public celebration of Nancy's life will take place Saturday afternoon at the Veterans Memorial Center
There will be a “Celebration of Life” for Nancy Keltner this Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Center in Davis.
You and I are invited. Everyone is.
Nancy died suddenly and unexpectedly on October 17 at the age of 85, though her energy and enthusiasm and joy for life was such that she presented as someone merely half that age.
Maybe you are among those in town who hadn’t met Nancy and perhaps had never even heard of her.
So here’s the deal.
Nancy Keltner spearheaded so many community-oriented projects and was the brains and brawn and sometimes sheer bravery behind so many worthy programs, that it is an almost inescapable truth that no matter if you knew her or not, you or someone close to you has directly benefited from her passion to make this a better world for all of us.
I’d ask that you let me briefly mention the long list of important causes in a wide variety of areas that Nancy was involved in, but there’d be no way to do it “briefly.”
As her family notes, Nancy loved being a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, cousin and friend, but she was also a tireless community advocate whose efforts helped to make Davis the town that we all love today.
Nancy was named Davis’ Citizen of the Year in 1991, receiving the award at a gala in January of 1992, but the truth of the matter is that Nancy could have been named Citizen of the Year in almost any year you could name. They should have just retired the trophy.
She worked on the “Send Our Strings to Vienna” campaign that allowed the Davis High School Orchestra to participate in an international music festival and served on the board of the Yolo Community Care Continuum and other local mental health agencies. And she led the “Save Our Strings” campaign to preserve music programs in our elementary and junior high schools.
For a number of years Nancy wrote a column for The Davis Enterprise in which she responded to serious questions from Davis teenagers. I remember our kids reading her sound advice religiously when they were teenagers.
She also was the co-founder, along with several other community volunteers, of the consignment store All Things Right and Relevant, with the profits directed to a number of mental health agencies.
Before the store settled on that name, I got a phone call from Nancy. For a number of years, you see, I had been calling Davis “The City of All Things Right and Relevant” in my newspaper column.
“We want to use that name for our store,” Nancy said with that distinctively kind voice of hers. “We figured we’d need your permission.”
“Of course,” was all I could muster. And so it was.
A few years later I got a letter from a newcomer to town after I had again used that expression in my column.
“Aren’t you embarrassed to steal that phrase from that wonderful consignment store?,” the writer asked indignantly.
Nancy and I shared a number of good laughs over that accusation.
In a written remembrance, Nancy’s family said that “Nancy is survived by her husband John, sons John, Brent and Carter, her siblings Caroline Hughes and Branch Rickey III, grandchildren Ben, Aiden, John Henry, Anna, Kai and Kiana and countless additional family members and friends.”
Added the family, “Nancy was born in St. Louis, raised in Pittsburgh and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University. She married John a year after graduation and began a life committed to family, service and adventure.”
The Keltners moved to Davis in 1976.
I remember one time several years ago encountering John and Nancy sitting together at one of the small tables at the Costco Food Court in Woodland, enjoying the famous $1.50 hot dog and soda special and looking for all the world like a couple of teenagers out on a first date.
John saw me walking by, looked up at me with a wide grin and said “It’s the best lunch deal going.”
Indeed it is.
In recent years and right up until her death, Nancy was working on a charming book, Something Wonderful, full of personal essays, with the help of revered Davis journalist Bruce Gallaudet. She was just several weeks from submitting it for publication when she passed away.
In the opening chapter titled “Where Do I Begin?,” Nancy writes, “A number of friends have asked what possessed me to start writing stories in my 80s. I have always been a storyteller, especially in love with humor. One night we had dinner guests, and my husband John asked me to tell one of his favorite stories from our year in the military in Korea. One of our sons had joined us for dinner, and it turned out he didn’t know a story I had been telling for years. About that same time, a grandson asked me If I ever had a close call. I told him about my horse-riding days.”
As it turns out, that was all the inspiration Nancy needed.
“That night, I climbed into bed - pen in hand - and was stunned by the number of ‘close calls’ I listed. I began writing in response to my grandson’s questions and to write about moments in my life that many in my family didn’t know. My initial goal was to write short, non-fiction humor, but when I began writing, more dramatic tales crept in and began to take over. Before long, I was so carried away - and writing at such length - that my little project was out of control. I knew I needed help.”
That’s when she wisely turned to Bruce Gallaudet.
Nancy concluded that opening chapter with these lovely words: “So, come laugh and cry with me. I’d love some company on this journey through the years.”
In a stunning and moving foreword to the book, written in December, a month or two after Nancy’s death, her husband John noted, “Here is what I hope you, my dear grandchildren, take from this book: your grandmother, Nancy Rickey Keltner, lived with humor, heart, conviction, curiosity and a touch of mischief - and I was lucky enough to love her, and be loved by her, for more than 60 years.
“From the moment I met her, she filled my life with laughter, purpose and the sense that anything was possible if Nancy was involved. She had a remarkable way of charming life into cooperating, and she brought that same magic into our lives, making even ordinary days brighter simply by being herself.
“Nancy consistently upheld what she believed was right - whether that meant standing up for a sixth-grade bully as a fourth grader, working compassionately in children’s hospitals, supporting parents navigating a child’s mental health challenges or devoting herself to countless community causes. She fought for justice throughout her life and touched countless people through both her advocacy and her daily acts of kindness.”
Added John, “Family was always at the heart of her world. I loved watching her as a mother and grandmother: slipping you an extra cookie, telling stories that made small moments feel important and cheering for your successes.
“So buckle up, dear grandchildren (and friends and extended family). You’re about to enter Nancy’s World - a world I was fortunate to live in - where laughter is plentiful, kindness is essential and something wonderful is always just around the corner.
“If you find yourself smiling or shaking your head, know that you are seeing her exactly as she wished to be remembered: deeply loved, joyfully lived and forever unforgettable.”
According to Nancy’s family, “She hoped that in her memory we do any simple act of kindness for someone and embrace one of her favorite sayings, ‘Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen.’ “
Indeed, something wonderful did happen to our beloved community on the very day when Nancy Keltner came into our lives.
I only hope that she knew how many people she had touched in so many ways in the richly blessed years that she and her family have graced our town.
Reach me at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
(This post is free. It can be shared or reposted on any platform you may prefer. Nancy Keltner had friends in many places. It would be wonderful if they could see this remembrance of her life.)
I never met Nancy, but remember her name coming up at various city social events. It was always positive. She sounds very much like the type of person we need many more of. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends dealing with the pain of her passing.
I always wondered what came first: the wonderful non-profit store or the eloquent newspaper columnist. Now I know. Rest in peace.