Nancy Ann McDonald

Nancy Ann (Vance) Hope McDonald born on November 16, 1939, died of complications from Multiple Myeloma Cancer on December 12, 2021. Nancy was the youngest of five, and grew up on a farm in rural Monroe County. She attended Tick Ridge School, a one room school house that she and her siblings walked to and from daily. Nancy had a love of horses, and occasionally would ride her pony Ginger or her horse Queen to school and keep them in a neighbor’s barn. She participated in 4H, winning ribbons for showing her sheep, calves, and horses. She attended Moravia High School, graduating in 1957 as Valedictorian of her senior class. She was an avid sports enthusiast, participating in basketball throughout high school. After graduation, she worked in Des Moines, Iowa, until she met and fell in love with Chester E. Hope Jr. They were married March 8, 1959. They moved to Waterloo, Iowa, and were blessed with four children, until Chet’s death on June 8, 1964. Nancy moved her four young children back to Albia, Iowa, after Chet’s death, and began working as a secretary to the County Health Nurse, Virginia Ryan. Nancy soon found a job working for John Deere in Ottumwa as a secretary, and retired in 1991 after 25 years. Nancy was an avid bowler, and would attend many state and national bowling tournaments with her bowling gal pals on a team called the Happy Hookers. Nancy would often talk of the adventures she and her bowling companions would experience from those tournament trips. Nancy met John McDonald in 1971. They maintained a relationship through his years of working on the road with Pittsburgh Des Moines Steel, and were married on December 2, 1991 in Las Vegas, NV. In her retirement, Nancy took care of her ailing parents in Albia. They had a residence in Sun City, AZ. She would help them move every winter to Arizona and then back to Albia again in the spring. She also worked for the water company reading meters, driving the gravel roads from farm to farm. After she got tired of the many adventures of winter driving on those gravel roads and farm dog scares, she began working with the Prairie Cemetery Board as their Secretary, taking the minutes and producing newsletters. During this time, she found that she could “witch” gravesites, aiding in the discovery of old abandoned graves and pioneer cemeteries. Nancy began ailing in late 2019, but wasn’t diagnosed with the Multiple Myeloma Cancer until late 2020. She battled the cancer and the chemo through 2021, finally going to God in December. Nancy is survived by her husband, John E. McDonald; a daughter, Janie Hope; sons, Gary and Roger Hope; granddaughters, Morgan Lockhart and Kiera Hope; grandson, Keifer Hope; great granddaughters, Hope Cloke, Isabel Fisher, Macey Fisher; and a sister, Elizabeth Pigg. Nancy is preceded in death by her husband, Chester E. Hope; a son, Rodney Allen Hope; her mother and father, Dorothy and Marvin Vance; and three siblings, Davonna Wren, Geraldine Robinson, and Raymond Vance. Visitation will be held from 2:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. on Friday, December 17, 2021, at the Tharp Funeral Home in Albia, with Nancy’s family present from 5:00-7:00 p.m. to greet family and friends. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 18, 2021, at the Tharp Funeral Home in Albia, with Pastor Roger Henry officiating. Per Nancy‘s wishes her body will be cremated following the service. A funeral procession will form at the Tharp Funeral Home at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 18, 2021, for burial at Selection Cemetery. Memorials have been established to the American Cancer Society and to ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

Nancy Ann McDonald

November 16, 1939 - December 12, 2021