Nancy Joyce STEWART

Nancy was born July 21 1951 in St Paul, Minnesota to Donna and Edward Hoffer. She is survived by her husband Tod, two sons Chad and Sean, daughter-in-law Kim, granddaughters BreAnna, Courtney, Kelsie, grandson Dylan. Her siblings consist of sisters Edie, Donna, Leslie, Evey, Linda, Theresa and brothers Dennis, Larry, Alan and Chip. Stepfather Les and Claudia Altman. Nancy lived in Minnesota, North Dakota, California, Alaska then to Washington at a young age in Ballard then to White Center thru High School at Evergreen. At the age of 17 she married Tod on August 2 1968 loving him and family the next 45 years till going home to the Lord July 18 2013. Nancy and Tod moved to Kent around 1970 and raised up the family which consisted of her two sons and a countless number of animals. Her love was the Lord, family, friends, the animals and driving the school bus of kids. Life with Nancy involved her being a school mom at East Hill Elementary and bringing whatever animals we had so the rest of the kids could experience farm animals. Next she started driving school bus for Kent School District which lasted 31 years. During these years she would raise and ride her horse “Fantisy” at play days and in the mountain trails around Washington. In February 1974 she made it into the Kent News Journal for riding her horse "Whiskey" to the bus garage when someone had drained the gas out of our truck. What better excuse for riding your horse? If felt so good she continued to do it whenever she needed the country ride. Nancy would adopt any animal given to her or found wondering about to keep them safe and "gift" them to friends to the point they started to be afraid if they seen her coming. How many more are you going to give me? Nancy would be the first to volunteer for whatever needed to be done at school, work, church, clubs or work parties. If volunteers were not asked for she would start doing something because "it" needed to be done. Nancy loved the kids she drove for and with her smile and always happy attitude she could bring most all the kids to respect her and their self. One of her sayings I remember her telling the kids when they were loud and needed to calm down is " I am not leaving or driving till you quiet down and it is safe, I am on the payroll and not in any hurry to get home" it seemed to work great as she had some of the best kids by the end of the year and they would teach the new comers the rules for riding on Nancy's bus. The district estimated Nancy has transported more than (2) million students during her time at Transportation. She drove a regular morning and afternoon route every day and Nancy transported countless others on field trips to numerous locations. She transported athletic teams in and out of the district and was often the driver of choice for out of state trips. They estimate she traveled over 439,000 miles in her 31 years of service to the families of Kent School District. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated on August 2nd 2013 @ 11:00 in Holy Spirit Catholic Parish, 327 2nd Ave South, Kent WA 98032

Celebration of Life

August 2, 2013, 11:00 am