Nancy Carol Knoll

Nancy passed away peacefully in her sleep on January 12th, 2018, just shy of her 78th birthday. She was born on January 20, 1939, in Richmond, California, to Bennie Albert and Ruth Christina Boepple (nee Meidinger). She had two sisters, Nyla Lee and Cheryl Merise. Her dad worked for Kaiser Steel during the war and was also a Carpenter and Vineyard Ranch Manager. Her mom was a Practical Nurse and an amazing cook, preparing the traditional German dishes from the Old Country. They both came over by ship from New Kassel, South Russia, with their families, then by wagon train to the Antelope Valley, South Dakota, to the 'Meidinger Settlement' in McIntosh County. Their parents had migrated to Russia from Kassel, Germany, under an incentive by Catherine the Great for skilled farmers to work the land. After living in South Dakota, they headed West, following the rails to Idaho and then California. From Richmond they moved to Napa, CA, and later settled in Lodi, CA.

Her family were devoted Seventh Day Adventists and she looked forward to the Second Coming of the Lord.

Nancy attended Napa Union Academy, Golden Gate Academy, and Napa Beauty College. She then married Russell Warren Kenyon (Napa) and had two daughters, Merise Lee and Cathy Louise. Nancy then remarried Raymond Manley Knoll (Pollock Pines) and had a son, Raymond Daniel Knoll.

She will be missed by her children, Merise Hetherington (Robert), Cathy Kenyon (Ken), Dan (Linda) Knoll; sister Cheryl Howard (Kevin); nephew Judd Girard; grandchildren Erik Willoughby Jones, Michelle Lee Hullquist, Stephanie Elise Hullquist and Daniel Knoll; along with cousins Arthur (Diana) Will, Lois Smith, and many others. She was predeceased by her nephew Scott McBride.

She loved ceramics, league bowling, horseback riding, boating, angels, gardening, knitting and crocheting. She also enjoyed breeding and raising Registered German Shepherds from a line sired by Rin-Tin-Tin. She loved her thoroughbred horse, Blaze, and her many beloved kitties along the way. Her family also remembers her great talent for whistling.

We will be celebrating her life at the coast with friends and family. If you can join us, please contact daughter Merise by e-mail at meriselee@icloud.com to make arrangements.

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