Nancy Joan Spohn Dodd, 71, died Tuesday, March 16, 2010, in her Peachtree City, Ga, home after a brave battle with cancer. It was her 38th wedding anniversary.
Nancy was born Nancy Joan Clark Spohn in Schenectady, N.Y., July 14, 1938, to the late Hugh Spohn (Beaver, Okla.) and Gladys (Shorey) Spohn ( Schenetady , N.Y.). She grew up in New Lebanon, N.Y.
Her father was the Finance Officer for General Electric in nearby Pittsfield, Mass., and owned a Ford Agency in Great Barrington , Mass. She also lived, in order, in Williamstown, Mass.; Canoga Park, Calif.; Great Barrington, Mass.; Dennisport, Cape Cod, Mass.; Canaan, N.Y.; Woodstock, Conn.; Lake Worth, Fla., West Palm Beach, Fla., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., North Ridge, Calif., Alpharetta, Ga., before moving to Peachtree City in 1995.
Nancy was an excellent student graduating from Miss Hall’s School for girls in Pittsfield, Mass. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with honors in 1960 after attending the University of Michigan and New England College ( Henniker , N.H.). While at Michigan she was a member of Sorosis (later known as Pi Beta Phi).
Nancy enjoyed a 34-year career in banking and the credit union industry as a loan officer and mortgage officer in Cape Cod, Mass.; Woodstock , Conn.; Lake Worth , Jupiter and Ft Lauderdale, Fla. and Los Angeles , Calif . For eight years, until her retirement in 2003, she was the Mortgage Officer for the Southern Federal Credit Union in Fayetteville , Ga. Nancy was the President of Zonta International, the professional businesswoman’s organization, in Palm Beach County, Fla., in 1989. She became a licensed real estate broker in the State of Florida in 1990. Before she started in her banking career Nancy ran and operated her own antique shop in Great Barrington.
She was active as a leader in the Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and Little League. She sang in the church choir. Nancy maintained a whopping 186 bowling average and was an avid bridge player, skier and golfer. While acting as a ski patrol officer at the Jug End resort, Berkshires, Mass., she met her husband Richard, who was struggling on the slopes in 1971. While there she received an award from the Red Cross for saving a boy who had fallen through the ice. She jumped in after him.
During the last 13 years Nancy has loved taking golf cart rides with her husband Dick and her dogs Pooh and Sugar around Peachtree City ’s 95 miles of beautiful golf paths. She and Dick loved the ocean and spent recent summers at St. Augustine , Fla., beaches. They traveled extensively around the country in their mobile home and to many of our National Parks. During the last 10 years they took five Caribbean cruises, most with daughter Cynthia, and a two-week Mediterranean cruise in 2008 with Cynthia and her husband Jason. Their most enjoyable vacation was while attending Cynthia’s 2007 wedding in Hawaii. She loved to write and belonged to the Peachtree City writers club. She enjoyed attending her husband’s concert and dance band performances during the last 38 years. She has an extensive library of jewelry and cookbooks and a collection of 380 Bennie Babies.
Her brother, John Lee Spohn of Fayetteville , Ga., predeceased her in 2008. Nancy ’s husband Richard Dodd survives her. Also surviving are their six children (two of “hers”, three of “his” and one of “ours”), 17 grandchildren (plus one on the way) and six great grandchildren. The two “hers” children are: Christopher Schimmel of Agoura Hills , Calif. (wife Jane and children Blake, Miles and Audrey); Jeffrey Schimmel of Bedford , N.H. (wife Debbie and children Jessica, Brian and Erica). The “ours” child is Cynthia Marie Daley of Fountain Valley , Calif., a (husband Jason and children Ava Marie and soon to be born Jack Harrison Daley). The three “his”: are Debra Ann Rajkowski of Coram, Mont. (husband Jeffrey and children: Sarah, Reuben, Emil, Hanna, Isaac, Magdalena and Pricilla); Bruce Dodd of Atlanta, Ga.; and Lynda Wilkerson of Hardy Ark. (husband Logan and children Brandy, Jonathon and Justin). Cynthia, Jeffrey, Christopher and Lynda were with her near the end. Also surviving are her nephew John Spohn of Tampa, Fla. (wife Sean-Ann, and son Connor); Nancy’s cousins Alice Kay Wilson of Utah, and Jean Spohn of Oklahoma and her brother-in-law, Harvey John Dodd, of Provincetown, Cape Cod, Mass., and sister-in-law, Nancy Dodd Molony of Montreal, Canada.
Her good friends, Sharon and Daniel Kling, Nellie Eggleston, Donn Malmquist, Amy Bailey, Randy and Pat Sharp, Frank Browning, Sara Deluca, Don and Theryl Brooks, the late Dick Loester and his wife Virginia, loved her dearly. A true pet lover, her constant companion, 16-year-old tabby, Tigre, and one-year-old Bischon, Sugar, were beside her to the end. Nancy “with the laughing face” never complained, though in and out of hospitals 45 times in the last 10 years. She always had a ready quick smile, a “thank you” and an “I love you”. Her family considers her to be a brave saint.
Nancy’s remains will be donated for scientific research to the Anatomy Gifts Registry. She will be cremated and her ashes returned to her husband. A memorial church service will be held in Agoura Hills, Calif. followed by a celebration of Nancy ’s life at 2:00 P.M. Saturday, April 10, 2010, in the home of her son Christopher Schimmel , 6120 Heritage Drive, Agoura Hills, Calif. 91301, 818-889-7422. Flowers will be greatly appreciated and should be sent to this address.
