Nancy Ruth Rucker was born on November 8, 1937 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Kenneth and Hazel (Burns) Rucker. Her childhood was spent in Fort Mitchell, KY where she received an excellent education at Villa Madonna Academy and Beechwood High School. After the birth of her brother, Kenneth Walter, and death of her mother, the family moved to Indiana where Nancy graduated from Jeffersonville High School at the age of 16. Nancy attended Indiana University and graduated from Kentucky Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in Louisville in 1958.
Nancy worked as a pediatric nurse at Louisville Children’s Hospital for 7 years, and as a bedside nurse at hospitals in North Carolina, Colorado, and Kansas for the entirety of her career. After moving to Abilene in 1974, Nancy went to work as a nurse at Abilene Memorial Hospital where she remained until her retirement in 2010.
It was at Indiana University that she met her husband, Frederick Wingfield Schmidt, of Junction City, Kansas. They were married on December 30, 1965. Children Paul and Margaret were born in Colorado where Fred was teaching music at Fort Lewis College, Durango. They then returned to Kansas in 1969 to be close to family and where their daughter Katey was later born. Fred and Nancy made their home in rural Abilene where Nancy lived for 48 years until the time of her death.
Nancy deeply appreciated books, poetry, plants, animals, music, a good bakery, and beautiful things of every sort. Each day, she took great pleasure in looking at her flowers, books, and all the interesting objects that she and Fred had accumulated throughout their lives. Many a visitor to the Schmidt home believed there were fairies living in Nancy’s garden where she had cultivated a verdant landscape reminiscent of her childhood in Kentucky and Tennessee. Nancy was a serious thinker and loved reading and talking about the subjects of philosophy, psychology, and theology. A devoted mother, she was always interested in what her family was doing and maybe even more so in what they were thinking. Her childhood friendships and those she made in Kansas endured throughout her life. It was common for those who knew her to seek her thoughtful counsel and it is perhaps in this way that she will be most missed.
Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, brother, husband, and many friends. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Anne Schmidt, children Paul Schmidt (Julie), Margaret Trow (Ron), Katey Naylor (Erik), and grandchildren Nell, William, and Alek.
A private memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to The Land Institute of Salina, KS that works to develop and promote natural systems and perennial agriculture or to The Rebecca A. Morrison House that provides guest residence to those with family in care at Salina Regional Health Center. Donations may be sent in care of Martin-Becker-Carlson Funeral Home, 414 NW 3rd Street, Abilene, KS, 67410.