Obituaries

Born in 1948, Nancy Hoppe was the third of Leona and Vernon Kuehl’s five children and spent her early years on the family farm in rural Ormsby, Minnesota.

As a kid, Nancy was adventurous and mischievous, stubborn and sassy. On the farm, she and her siblings made their own fun - tea parties with dad, building stick houses in the summer and snow forts in the winter, using the cattle tank as a swimming pool and climbing the windmill, picking strawberries and walking the beans.

She was baptized and confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church and attended a one room country schoolhouse for grades 1 - 6.

Later she attended Trimont High School, graduating class of 1966, where she was known as a likable majorette and met John Hoppe, who she would later marry in 1971.

She graduated with her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota and taught elementary education for a few years. She and John moved to Minneapolis where she worked as a bookkeeper, before making an even bigger move to California in 1978.

After brief stints in Woodland and Reno, the couple settled in Fremont, California. Daughter Dawn was born in 1979 and their family grew when son Michael arrived a few years later in 1982.

During their early childhood, Nancy stayed home, caring for the children and the home, amidst wicked rounds of gin rummy with neighbor and friend, Sandra Leonard.

Once she and John divorced, Nancy went back to school and back into the workforce, eventually working as a project manager in the construction field. Her working years were marked by a diligence and determination to provide a safe and stable home for her children.

Over the years, Nancy developed a strong network of friends who met regularly for walks, canasta, bunko, mah jong, wine, and good times. She enjoyed gardening, trying new recipes, and attending the community theatre.

She is remembered by her friends for her irreverent sense of humor. She is remembered by her siblings for her mischievous nature. She is remembered by her children for her outstanding beef stroganoff, for making Christmas Eve a truly special occasion, and for always being a safe place to land.

Nancy died on Christmas Eve 2020, in her beautifully decorated home, in the company of her children and their partners. She left this world too soon and will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her children Dawn Hoppe and Michael Hoppe, and her siblings Wayne Kuehl, Eileen Kuehl, Dan Kuehl, and Tom Kuehl.

Preceded in death by her parents and sister-in-law Elaine.

Services will be scheduled in a few months, once it is safe to gather.