I choose to honor Nancy Ellen Tiffany who was my best friend, college sweetheart, soul mate, wife of 18 years and mother of our four children. She was a free spirit who positively influenced her many friends before her untimely, tragic death in a traffic accident on August 1, 2002. She was 41 years of age at the time of her death, but she packed a lot of adventure and love of life into those 41 years.
Nancy Ellen (Meyer) Tiffany was born March 25, 1961 to Robert F. Meyer and Marion Meyer of Dubuque, Iowa. She was a young, adventuresome tomboy who reveled in the outdoors and sports. She attended Catholic grade schools in Dubuque and graduated from Dubuque Wahlert High School in 1979.
She enrolled at Iowa State University in the fall of 1979 and began her course of study for a B.S. Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. It was the start of a long love affair she had with Iowa State University and the Cyclone sports teams. But more importantly it was the beginning of a love affair with one lucky farm boy from southwestern Minnesota (me).
We met when she was a freshman and I was a sophomore at Iowa State University.
Even though she was dating another upperclassman at the time I met, I knew I had to get to know her. She was athletic, tanned, had beautiful brown hair and large brown eyes. On top of that she had a vivacious personality and had a real spark in her eye.
We exchanged pleasantries at some football games and other dormitory functions, but finally I had an opportunity to ask her to dance at a party. We had a great time and at the end of that dance I surprised not only her, but also myself by planting a big kiss on her lips. She was taken aback but did not slap me across the face, she just looked surprised—I considered that a positive outcome. That moment is still etched in my mind.
Within a few weeks we started dating steadily and we would often share Sunday night dinners together. Our friendship really blossomed in the spring of 1980 and until we graduated in the spring of 1983 we were inseparable. We enjoyed the same things—going to sporting events and concerts. Some of our favorite memories were centered around seeing Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, The Who and her favorite, The Rolling Stones.
After graduation, Nancy had to fulfill a dream of hers to live and work in New York City. Nancy’s mother asked me to talk her out of it, but I couldn’t ask her to lose that dream, so we had a long distance relationship between Mankato, MN and New York City while she worked as a copy editor for publishing company. I went out to visit her in New York over Thanksgiving in 1983. She showed me the sights, scared us both on the subway late at night and darn near poisoned me with an under-cooked turkey.
When I returned to Minnesota, I knew I could not live without her and I think she felt the same so when she returned for Christmas, I proposed to her by dropping her engagement ring in the bottom of a wine glass filled with white wine. The ring blended in with the stem at the bottom of the amber colored wine and she almost swallowed it before I stopped her just in time and asked her if she noticed anything in her glass. She was speechless…for a short period of time.
After our marriage in Dubuque on a beautiful September day, we took our honeymoon in Hawaii. After a great trip and we returned to start our new lives in “our honeymoon cottage” in North Mankato, MN. Nancy developed our local circle of friends through her work at the Mankato Free Press. She was a feature writer as well as being involved in the copy editing of various sections of the paper.
She was particularly proud be the sports copy editor because she loved sports and aggressively competed with the men in picking football game results. She took every opportunity to place stories in the paper about the Iowa State Cyclones even though the main college sports stories centered on Mankato State and the University of Minnesota.
By the spring of 1989 we were expecting our first baby so we decided to build a larger home. Laura arrived 2 weeks before the house was done so we kept her in a crib in the living room of an old farmhouse we were renting. Our second daughter, Jessica, was in a hurry to join us, just 11 months after Laura was born—what a great surprise for both of us.
In 1992 we moved up to Spicer, MN in 1992 to accommodate a change in my career. Our two boys, Andrew and Benjamin were born in 1994 and 1996 respectively. Nancy gave up her career in journalism to devote her energies to being a full time stay-at-home mom during our time in the Spicer/Willmar area.
Nancy would readily admit her priorities were to play with the kids rather than clean the house and in looking back I know she was right. She also insisted on reading to them on a regular basis—even when I was tired from work she would prod me into helping with that reading.
Nancy’s spirit lives on in her four children, who benefited greatly from her solid values and her desire for them to experience life on the adventuresome side. She always said to them that they could be anything they wanted to be just as long as it was not boring!
Nancy was one of the most gentle, caring people on this earth. She loved life. She loved her friends and family, and she loved our kids and me. I miss her terribly but I am grateful for the time she had here on earth and for the legacy she has left us.
Submitted by Clyde W. Tiffany, ISU Alumni, BS, 1983 |
