Nancy Veronica Maloney

Dear Michael & Pat, We are so sorry to hear about your mom's passing. We will surely miss seeing her beautiful smile around the property. She was truly a kind and wonderful addition to our family. Our deepest sympathy. Kathy, Sandra , Lori and staff

I wanted to leave the full story of my Mom's life, as a tribute to all she loved. Nancy was born on February 1, 1938 as the third daughter to Stephen and Bridget. They lived in a house on Charter Street in Madison, that later (1960/70’s) became part UW campus. She always wished she had a brother to defend her, but she was very close to her two older sisters, Maureen and Louisa. She attended a Catholic grade school, and then attended West High School where she graduated from in 1956. She took Latin in High School, and while she lamented that it wasn’t very practical for communicating with others, it certainly helped her in her work. Nancy started working for the UW Hospital Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic after high school, and besides doing some typing work at home, never worked for any other business her entire life. Nancy continued to live with her parents after graduation, and loved being Auntie Nance to her sister Maureen’s children, her five nieces and nephews; Steffie, Johnny, Ann, Tommy and Rach. They remember her always taking pictures of them and being a fun aunt to spoil them. Stephenie was the flower girl in her wedding to James E Noll in 1970. She was also quite fond of her brother-in-laws, John Crosetto (Maureen) and Robert Wallace (Louisa). Nancy and Jim first lived on Paunack Place in Madison, and got their first family cat, Frosty, and had their first child there, Patricia Jane (named after Nancy’s sisters, Maureen Patricia and Louisa Jane) in 1972. They moved to Milwaukee for Jim’s education and work, and had their son, Michael James, in 1973. When Jim struggled with work, the family moved back to Madison and Nancy resumed her work with the UW Hospital. They divorced in 1980, and Nancy worked extremely hard as a single mother to make sure that Patty and Mike were never deprived of anything. Nancy continued to remain quite close to her sisters, and although she had trouble with transportation, got Patty, Mike and herself down to see their cousins and aunts for almost in Kenosha or Downer’s Grove, IL every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and often a visit during summer vacations. Nancy worked as a receptionist and typist, and eventually in the mail room too, but she liked transcribing tapes from the doctors the best. She was well known for being fast, accurate, and discreet about what was said on those tapes. The UW interns often paid her to help them type up their papers for medical school outside of work, which helped supplement her income as a single mom. When she retired in 2005, her boss told her daughter that she was quiet but sweet to everyone. She did her work without a lot of complaints, or gossip, and her supervisor was very sad to lose her. Some of her close work friends included Pat, Joan, Jean and Dee. Nancy’s passion, or obsession, was for cats. She had cats as a child, first Ginger and then Charlie. She adopted Frosty from the Humane Society in 1971, and he lived as another full member of the family. Frosty had his own pumpkin at Halloween, stocking and presents at Christmas, basket at Easter, and his birthday was celebrated with parties. Patty and Mike could invite friends who had pet cats, there was always a cake, and guests were sent home with goodie bags to take to their pets. Frosty lived until the age of 16. Then Nancy adopted Tony and Tigger from the Humane Society. They had similar loving treatment, and Nancy even took the step of baptizing them herself. Nancy was especially close to her cat Tony, who was diagnosed with diabetes just a few years before she also was found to have the disease. She learned to give Tony insulin, and became very close Dr. Pam Mache, her dedicated vet. When they had both passed, Nancy adopted her final two cats, Rocket and Rudi, from Angel’s Wish. Even at the very end of her life, living under hospice care with her daughter, she wanted nothing more than to play and pet cats. One of the last photos Patty had was of her playing with Patty’s cat Kirby. Besides cats, Nancy’s other obsession was for her only grandson, Connor Ronald Maloney Stephenson. Patty had divorced while pregnant with Connor, and Nancy was there for his birth and for much of his early life. She helped Patty and Connor in every way possible. Nancy babysat frequently and spoiled Connor terribly. She affectionately called him the “crowned prince” and insisted that he should be the center of the universe. She showered him with unconditional love, and was so proud of every little thing he did. She treasured his pictures, stories. His homemade cards hung on her walls, and she loved him picking out or decorating her birthday cakes. One of her last conversations with Patty was about how great Connor is, how smart and very talented. Nancy was extremely grateful to those who made the end of her life as comfortable as possible. Agrace Hospice was amazing, but particularly Nancy wanted to recognize her nurse Melissa, who gave her a stuffed kitty and provided such loving personalized care. Nancy and Patty were also grateful for the help that Beth Reuter provided, trying to assist Patty with medical care when there wasn’t anyone else and driving Connor to school. Patty and Nancy were overwhelmed with the love and support that came from Patty’s school, Chavez Elementary. Staff there bought supplies that Hospice didn’t provide, handmade birthday and get well cards from Patty’s students, and cooked meals that were delivered regularly to the home. Ann Velden and others provided crucial emotional support to Patty. We can never fully repay all the kindness that was shown to our family in these last few weeks. Nancy died comfortably in her sleep in the early morning on February 4th, 2017.