Obituary

Nancy Elizabeth Duncan Huss returned to love, to use her own words, on the morning of January 21st, 2025. She was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, November 10, 1943.  She is survived by her husband David A. Huss, children Tom J. Aeschliman and Elizabeth A. Aeschliman, cousins Memory Myers, Jeff Myers, Tracy Myers and Dan McCLish and her Extended Family; all those she adopted with her heart. 

Nancy lived her life with courage, determination, and love. Often called “a force of nature,” she possessed a quick-moving and dramatic temperament, much like the wind storms she loved. Nevertheless, she was a magnet for cats and kids, winning over both groups with quiet affection and genuine respect.

And she was great fun.

Strangers, passing her in a theater or on the street were known to comment on her “world class” laugh — which we will remember and miss for the remainder of our lives.

Her curiosity about the world, and interest in life and people, introduced her to many places and many fascinating people — none more fascinating, interesting, and full of joyous life than herself.

A devoted wife of 40 years to David and devoted mother to Tom and Elizabeth Aeschliman. She was also a great friend to many, and a good, generous and engaged citizen who gave back to the community.

From her job as a Seattle keypunch operator at the beginning of the computer era, to time as an administrative assistant at the San Francisco Board of Education, helping introduce an experimental reading program featuring inventive new teaching methods that have become routine in the years since, to Seattle’s innovative Public Arts Commission, where she became Executive Secretary to the Director, and the UW’s Henry Art Gallery, Nancy loved being at the cutting edge, where new things were being tried and new ideas were changing the landscape of culture. Where, time and time again, she proved herself an indispensable right hand man and world class organizer.

Nancy loved books and always had a two-foot stack of books by her bedside, from sci-fi novels to thick, serious works of non-fiction, as well as at least one daily newspaper and various magazines. She was a first rate conversationist—loving to talk about ideas and never shy to share her confidently-stated (and always interesting) opinions.

Her talents included photography, writing, speaking, and human connection. She knew how to make and keep friends, and built community wherever she found herself.

But her first love was the movies. She spent several years learning the ropes of starting and running independent movie theaters while working for Randy Finley (Seven Gable Theaters) in Seattle. In the 1970s, she was ready to build a theatre of her own—The Cinema, in Olympia—that became a second home for that community’s film buffs and students.

After retiring and moving to Bellingham, Nancy threw her energy and movie theatre experience into organizing the efforts to create The Pickford Film Center.

In Seattle, she’d lent her lovely voice and unforgettable laugh to reading Books for the Blind, as well as recording interviews with authors. In Bellingham, she organized a chapter of Books for Prisoners. She sat with hospice patients and especially loved helping teenage mothers by sitting with their babies while they pursued their high school diplomas through the Bellingham schools’ GRADS program .

In 2019, while already experiencing chronic pain from Post-polio Syndrome, she suffered a stroke. In the last years of her life, she faced confusion, memory loss, and ever-decreasing mobility. This was a tremendous struggle for someone used to a trustworthy mind and a big life. And still, her intelligence, curiosity, and kindness shone through. Each day she laughed, and did her best to fully experience life, engaging in the moment with everyone she met.

Her friends and family knew her as someone they could always count on in times of illness and grief. And many, many strangers who didn’t know her at all would come to experience her spontaneous generosity. 

Her joyful love for life will live in our hearts.

A Celebration of her life will be convened March 1st, 2025, Noon to 3:00pm, at Squalicum Boathouse in Zuanich park, Bellingham, WA. All are Welcome!

Memorial website: https://everloved.com/life-of/nancy-huss/