Those with spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear may have been slightly startled recently when on Friday morning, November 21, 2025, they heard an unanticipated yet distinctly loud "ouch" followed by an immediate "stop that, Naughty Nancy!" For Eric, Ryan, Doug, Katie, Brent, spouses, grandchildren, and great grandchildren; there was not so much surprise as there was confirmation that Nancy Kay Johnson had, in fact, made good on her promise to "sock Ralph right in the shoulder for having had the nerve to leave me alone!"

If you listened closely, you might have also heard, "don't whine, that's Never Naughty Nancy." Followed immediately by two consecutive "Hi Mom, I missed you!" Fair enough Dustin and Kim, the rest of us will take a turn at missing mom for a while.

Nancy (Naughty or Never depending on the circumstances) shunned the limelight while working magic in the shadows. Be it a simple yet annual birthday card sent to the teenage former member of her Sunday School class who momentarily lost his way or taking time off of work to check her son out of junior high school to grab lunch together when she could tell he was having a difficult go of it; Nancy taught and loved quietly. The aforementioned son will never forget his mother belching and then commenting wryly how that always made her feel better after eating a big meal!!

Born July 22, 1945, in Forest Grove, Oregon, Nancy was thrust into a caretaking role at an early age. Circumstances as they were, Nancy and her siblings, Bill, Barb, and Sue often found themselves on their own to figure out dinner. When asked how she learned to cook, Mom simply responded "someone had to when I was young." At this young age she began perfecting the skill of putting the needs of those around her above her own wants and whims. This is not to say that Nancy was not willing to pursue a want–as a 17-year old, she decided she wanted her own form of transportation; so she saved up and purchased her own automobile. The car came in handy a year or so later when after nearly getting pinched by the police (luckily they stopped her for a funeral procession rather than to ask for her driver's license), she finally decided she should go ahead and take the test to get her driver's license.

Despite (or maybe because of) her difficult upbringing; the challenge of raising a special needs son; and having her oldest daughter die tragically, Nancy learned the skill of always waking up the next morning and facing what was to come. She did this by experiencing the joy that comes from being with people that she loved; by teasing and laughing with them; and by convincing those around her to go to Disneyland. She overcame heartache and difficulty by buying or wearing something pink; drinking a Coke; or by dipping her toes in the ocean. This ability to persevere in the face of challenges is seared on the hearts of her children.

Leveraging the experience gained as the frequent family cook for her siblings, Nancy hit the jackpot when some poor student named Ralph and his roommate Doug decided they needed to hire a cook. In reality, it was Ralph who hit the jackpot when Nancy agreed to marry him. Their love affair endured more than 55 years, 7 children, and thousands of hours sitting in the sun or the rain; the heat or the cold watching baseball, basketball, soccer, football, and even a rugby match or two. An ironwoman of sport, Nancy only suffered one serious injury while watching her children play ball when her Orem Tiger son intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown. Somewhere during that particular play Nancy pulled a hamstring or strained a neck thereby giving her children ample ammunition to tease her about her sports injury!

Having endured a difficult, even traumatic at times childhood, Nancy learned and then imparted to her children and anyone else she taught or loved lessons on the value of grit and a good sense of humor. Mom did not complain and could be a little impatient with those who did too often. In every aspect of her life, she took what she had and made it better (with the possible exception of the 32-ounce Dr. Pepper she would purchase on the way to work, nurse throughout the day, and then bring home to leave on the counter for some unsuspecting and otherwise innocent son or daughter to sip–10-hour old, watered down with melted ice Dr. Pepper is a taste hard to excise from memory).

Always insisting that "Never" be inserted in front of the Naughty Nancy appellation, Mom was also quoted as saying "good girls get nuthin!" whenever it became necessary to defend any particular behavior; particularly, the pleas of her children, daughters-in-law, or grandchildren to drink a glass of water instead of the nice cold glass of Coke! To this day, her children are unaware of the particular event that lead to the abandonment of Dr. Pepper in favor of a nice Coke. To her children even Naughty Nancy was nothing short of an angel, albeit one with a somewhat lethal pinch. She loved her children, her daughters and son in law, and she LOVED her grandchildren. She is for us, her children, the role model we will always look to as we measure what should be done next! She taught us to not wait for the assignment or the invitation but to just see a need and try to fill it.

While we will miss the spark that is Naughty Nancy, we are thrilled that she gets to join Ralph, Kim, and Dustin as they pinch and tease their way through Heaven. She is deeply loved by her children Eric (Patricia), Ryan (Crystal), Doug (Cris), Katie (Kirk), and Brent (Donna); 17 grandchildren, and 7 (and counting) great grandchildren.

Nancy's family and friends will gather on Friday, December 5, 2025, at the chapel at 430 South 700 East in Orem, Utah to have a Coke and say goodbye to Nancy. A viewing will be held Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:30 am with the Funeral beginning at 11:00 am. A viewing will also be held on Thursday, December 4, 2025, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Walker Sanderson Funeral Home located at 646 East 800 North in Orem. Feel free to wear something pink (Nancy's favorite color).

To view the services online for Nancy please click here. www.walkersanderson.com