Nancy Ruth (Godwin) Williamson, 88, died just before sunrise on Monday, May 8, 2017, in the bedroom she and her late husband, Jim, built almost 60 years ago onto the family home in south Roosevelt County. An informal family memorial service is planned for a later date.
Nancy was born on July 19, 1928, in Cleveland, OH, to Norman Alfred and Roma (Lenz) Godwin. Her father died when Nancy was only five years old, leaving her mother with three young children to raise through the Depression years.
From the time she could walk, Nancy was smitten with horses, and the little girl from the big city had one completely unlikely dream: To marry a cowboy and live on a ranch.
Nancy graduated in 1946 from John Marshall High School in Cleveland. She worked for a time for the Cuyahoga County Public Library system, and remembered handling books written by the science fiction writer Jack Williamson, who would eventually become her brother-in-law.
Later, she worked at the Cleveland Music School Settlement, and spent years serving as an usher for events at the Cleveland Public Auditorium, where she got to brush shoulders with visiting Broadway stars, feed apples to the elephants from Ringling Brothers circuses, and have free tickets to her beloved Metropolitan Opera each year during Met week.
After her mother died, Nancy learned of an opportunity to do secretarial work as civilian support staff for the U.S. Army in post-World War II Japan. She signed up for one year, and loved it so much that she extended twice, living in the Tokyo area from 1954-1957.
A lifelong writer of wonderful letters, Nancy kept in touch with her stateside friends and family with regular handwritten correspondence. One of her old schoolmates, Bobbie Wolf, had settled in Crossroads, NM, and she wrote that she had a cowboy “all dusted off” for Nancy to meet after she returned to the states.
In 1957, Nancy made a cross-country journey by bus that included a swing through eastern New Mexico. She wasn’t so sure about the cowboy—Jim Williamson—but “he came from such a nice family” that when he followed her back to Cleveland several weeks later and proposed, she said yes.
They were married in Cleveland, OH, on Nov. 26, 1957, and honeymooned home with visits to the Chicago and Kansas City stockyards because Jim wasn’t one to waste an opportunity like that. Nancy always noted that they were the only honeymooners at both places.
They settled on the family ranch southeast of Pep, adding on an addition to the home built by Jim’s parents. In a few years, they had their own little herd of toddlers—three babies born within two and a half years. Nancy enjoyed every aspect of ranch life, especially any opportunity to spend time on horseback.
She was an active and involved mother as her children went through the Dora schools, remembered by many kids as “the candy and cupcake lady” who often had treats waiting after school.
Through long hours of diligence, Nancy turned a grass burr and goathead-riddled patch of lawn into a wonderful yard surrounded by dozens of trees, her “oasis” that reminded her of Ohio.
Nancy loved to travel, and she and her family went on many memorable trips together. She and Jim were members of the Conestoga Good Sam Club in Portales, sharing many years of RV travel all over New Mexico and Texas. After Jim entered a long era of multiple surgeries, most of their travel was for medical reasons, but wherever Nancy went she enjoyed striking up conversations with strangers who often were added to her long Christmas card list.
For more than 20 years, she made regular cruises on the Delta Queen steamboat plying the rivers of the American heartland. Many of the passengers and crew became cherished friends.
In 1995, Nancy was delighted to welcome two granddaughters who were born seven months apart from each other. She was so proud of her girls, and loved watching them grow up
Several years ago, Nancy’s world started to grow smaller as she entered her own era of declining health, but she never lost her childlike wonder of the natural world. She spent hours each day looking out her “window on the world,” the picture window she and Jim put in their living room where she could watch birds, keep an eye on the weather, spot distant wildlife, and enjoy the daily sunset.
In her lifetime, she turned colorful mountains of yarn into afghans for anyone who even hinted they were interested. The scraps became “glass socks” that she crocheted by the hundreds and scattered to homes all over the United States.
As her world continued to shrink, Nancy enjoyed visits from dear friends, hours of coloring, and the almost constant companionship of Andy Griffith and the rest of the folks from Mayberry who provided a soothing background to her life. On weekly visits to Portales, she relished time spent in “the best library in the world,” the Portales Public Library, where the books provided endless hours of entertainment, and the librarians were kind and thoughtful friends.
Her adopted daughter, Tish McDaniel, was a constant source of joy and laughter; and honorary family members Louise Shoemaker and Patrice Caldwell were loyal to the end. Her niece, Sherry Snyder, and husband Allan, of Greeley, Colorado, stayed with her on numerous occasions to provide loving respite care. The compassionate staff of Kindred Hospice made it possible for Nancy to finish her life on the ranch she loved.
Besides her parents, Nancy was preceded in death by her husband, Jim Williamson, who died in 2009; and two brothers, Norman Alfred Godwin, Jr., and Ralph Godwin.
Survivors include her three children and their spouses: Stewart (Toni) Williamson of Portales; Betty Williamson (Milz Bickley) of Pep; and Gary (Christine) Williamson of San Antonio, TX; two granddaughters, Chloe Williamson of Boston, MA; and Katie Bickley of Northfield, MN; two sisters-in-law, Alice Godwin of Sierra Vista, AZ, and Evelyn Godwin of Cleveland, OH; numerous nieces and nephews; and her “inner circle” of beloved friends and adopted family members.
Out of their bottomless gratitude for the years of kindness shown to Nancy, the family respectfully requests memorial contributions be directed to the Portales Public Library, 218 South Avenue B, Portales, NM 88130.