Remembering Nancy…

Nancy R. Buck. I met Nancy my first year in San Francisco. She ran the photo lab for City College at Ft. Mason. What began as a weekly tutorial in how to develop film, what filter to use for the proper print contrast, and the art of dodging and burning, quickly evolved into a deep friendship. Each week in the lab, we would share a mango iced tea or a mint chocolate cookie from Greens and discuss the latest must-try hamburger joint.

Then Nancy became family. She would visit with Jeff and me to see our latest garden project. She looked after Dobie and Buster while we were on travel. She shared tips on where we could get good gelato. And she joined our holiday dinners when our families visited.

Nancy had a passion for trying and doing…everything. Nancy had as many hobbies as you could cram into the one bedroom Russian Hill apartment where she lived for 30 years. In addition to being an accomplished photographer, Nancy made jewelry, studied horticulture, played instruments, was a voracious reader, loved food, and had a passion for travel. Her apartment was a museum–with a carefully selected collection from her extended travels in Africa, Europe, and Asia.

When Nancy died this year, it all happend so quickly, that we barely had time to say goodbye. But in the process of visiting Nancy in the hospital, and helping her family to put her affairs in order after her death, Jeff and I became close with some of Nancy’s friends from other parts of her life. Its like Nancy planned it this way.

At our most recent holiday show, Nancy’s absence was evident. But so was her lasting impact. Friends that she brought together through her life gathered and toasted her memory…and made plans to visit together again.

Below, is a picture from Nancy’s memorial service on the Bay. Below that is a photo from the “after party” at Paradise Bay on the harbor in Sausalito–John, Regina, Jeff, Suzette, Joyce, Pat, and Susan offering a toast to Nancy (some of us with an awesome rasberry mojito, which Nancy would have LOVED!!)