Remembering Nancy Hofman

by Doris Smith

Nancy was our niece,cousin and a good friend.  Our hearts are aching at this

time. Her Dad & my husband were brothers.  We called them the

Smith Brother Cough drops.  None of us in Snowy Wisconsin knew how sick

she really was.  That was Nancy. We live many miles away but kept in

touch -- Especially the last few years through the computer.  Thank God for

that.

Nancy & her sister Tudy lived in Wisconsin in their early years .  They were

sent here during the war years in the 40's as their parents thought it would be

safer for the two children to be here in the Midwest rather than on the

California coast.  It was an unsettling time in this country. They stayed with

their grandparents here in Wisconsin on the Smith Family farm 7 miles north

of Cambria.  We all went to school in a little one room school house which

was quite an experience, and probably unheard of today. 

Well,  we all survived!

Our nick name for Nanc was Pants Annie.  I don't remember how it started,

but I don't think she cared for it much, so we didn't use it much in the later

years.  Other nicknames came and went. One time at a family dinner here at Bodwrog, Nancy was leaning with her arms on the table and Tudy said to her  "Lena get your arms off the table".  Of course we all laughed!

After the war ended, and the two sisters moved back home to California,

they iwould come back here many times to visit.  Marcia (Tudy) would visit

more often than Nancy, as Nancy didn't like flying, but we did see her and

cherished those visits.  As recently as this year, Julie had made plans to

bring Nancy on a trip out here but here, but as it turned out, her health was

not good enough to allow her to make the trip and plans had to be cancelled.

We were so disappointed, but never realized we would not have another

opportunity to visit.

On one visit to the farm, Nancy had brought

along two of her beautiful American Eskimo

show dogs with her.  She took them out to run

in one of the fields and they had a great time.

It was only after the run that Nancy realized the

field was full of burrs and stickers. 

Those beautiful dogs were a mess! 

Nancy worked and worked to get them

cleaned up.  She spent the whole rest of

the day grooming them until they looked

beautiful

once again,    

We shall miss our dear Nancy and know she will always be remembered by

those who knew and loved her.  We hope the American Eskimo fanciers

will always remember her love for, and contributions to the breed she

loved so much.

.

Nancy's Aunt Doris Smith from the Snow Country!

Nancy was

justifyably proud

of her accomplishments

as an author