Nancy Rae Byrum passed away on the evening of May 31, 2024, at Cooney Intensive Care Facility in Helena, Montana after saying "goodbye, I love you" to her loving husband. She was born on March 24, 1932, in San Diego, California. She has suffered and fought valiantly against lung disease and heart condition for several years.
Nancy grew up in East San Diego and was considered a "Tom Boy," climbing trees and playing kickball in the street with her neighborhood pals. She attended Hoover High School and later San Diego State College where she obtained a Batchlor of Arts degree in Home Economics and continued to obtain a Master of Arts degree. On May 10, 1951, she married her lifelong love, Bob Byrum, and they spent 73 wonderful years together.
She taught high school for twenty-five years before a well-deserved retirement. Nancy had many interests. She loved to cook and travel the world with her Bob.
They visited many countries including China, Germany, England, France, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Mexico where they had a second home for thirty years. After moving to Montana in 1990, she fell in love with its beauty and her home on a mountainside with many pine trees, beautiful sunrises and sunsets and wildlife. With their Labrador Retrievers, they traveled throughout the country competing in AKC dog trials.
In all these years, she was always positive, never complaining, loved people and people loved her. Nancy was never discouraged and always looked on the bright side of life.