This memorial site was created in memory of our loved one, Nancy Pollnow. On the day of her passing on December 22, 2018, Nancy celebrated her 44th wedding anniversary to her loving husband, Daniel Pollnow. It was the end of a courageous 8-year battle with pancreatic cancer. We feel blessed to have had so many good years after her cancer diagnosis in 2010. She left this world to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May God bless Nancy for the lifetime of love she shared with all of us. We love her. We miss her. We will remember her forever.
Family and friends honored Nancy at the Celebration of Life service on January 5, 2019 at Birmingham United Methodist Church, 15770 Birmingham Hwy, Milton, GA 30004.
In memory of Nancy Pollnow, please give to the charity of your choice in her name, or consider one of these options:
Cards and letters can be mailed to Daniel Pollnow, 180 Cadence Trail, Canton, GA 30115.
Nancy was born on October 11, 1935 in Manchester, KY. She was raised by her parents Maynard and Neville (Fritz) Bowling. Nancy and her three siblings grew up on the Bowling family farm in Laurel County, KY. After high school, she attended Eastern Kentucky University from 1954-1957 and earned her B.S degree in Biology. In 1971, Nancy received her M.A. degree in Education, Guidance and Counseling Secondary. She continued to take graduate courses to achieve Rank 1 status. Her teaching career covered elementary, middle, and high schools in the Clark County School District. She was promoted to be a guidance counselor at George Rogers Clark High School where she served until her retirement.
I wasn't even 20 yrs. old yet when I 1st met this dear lady. Little did I know then what an impact she was going to have on my life. It is hard to put into one story words as there have been so many along the way and because I know her story will live on, never ending. Nancy left that legacy for all of us that knew and loved her. We have all learned it thru the generations and we will carry it on.
Our family, (I'm married to Jeff her oldest son) are local to where she and Dan have lived in Ga. for her later years. Visiting often prior, thru her Hospice, and now after, it is evident that she is everywhere in that home and will continue to be. Grammy has sweetly left her mark.
However, yes, stories have flooded my mind as I wrestled with the thought that I had to let her go. Then, I realized NO, I have the stories. SO many stories to keep her memory alive. Of course those stories that pop up aren't without tears but they are forever and they are healing in her loss. Just the other day I teared up remembering vividly sitting on the floor wrapping a present many years ago (when we wrapped instead of gift bagged, LOL) Nancy was there and I was struggling. Noticing she said, "you aren't feeling well are you?" Emotionally, I burst into tears letting her be the 1st to know that no, I didn't feel well and it was an all too familiar feeling. I was a little worried what Jeff's reaction would be given this was just 17.5 months since birth of our 1st born. She just hugged me for the blessing of new life, laughed and told me I might as well go on and tell him, "It's not gonna change!" Little did we know, exactly 3 yrs. later almost the same scenario would happen, when I worriedly told her news of the 3rd and the hubbie was already settled and super busy with our 2. Grammy and I got some good laughs out of that GUESS WHAT news and she never skipped a beat in helping guide, love and support our 3 as a loving Grandmother.
Not on everything but certainly on values and family we were always on the same page. One thing I loved mostly about Grammy was her feistiness. One of my husbands favorite things to say about his mother is, "she's a wildcat!" What a tenacious single mother for many years of all boys she was. Had to be. Yet, she also later had 3 daughters in law & 3 granddaughters. She always treated us as the daughters she never had. Even though she knew boys she reminded us often of the value and power of women and how resilient and self sufficient we can be. None of this "A son is a son til he gets a wife, but a daughter is a daughter all her life." old adage for us. We agreed on what bologna that is and preferred another saying we saw out shopping one day, "Love is grand and there's more than enough love to go around. Share it!" Amen to that which we've always tried to adopt as much as possible. Another sign of beautiful legacy you've left that, God willing, I hope I can pass on.
One last story because yes, I'm known as the lengthy one. Grammy and Dan treated us all to a wonderful Christmas cruise one year before all the grand kids were too grown and on their own agenda. What a blessing it was. One I pray we'll do again in her honor before too long. No doubt Grammy would smile down on that. Any way, we were all dressed in our finest for evening dining. Grammy and I were puzzled at seating that the waiting staff inquired if I was, Kathy, addressing me by name? I nodded & we continued on with the fabulous dining experience. At after dinner coffee, here comes the entire wait staff in our section to sing, "Happy Birthday to Kathy" toting a scrumptious detailed custom made & decorated cake. Grammy was sitting across from me. We exchanged glances. She smirked with a bit of a shoulder shake as did I. We share October Bdays which we had celebrated months earlier. There are several October Bdays in our family and of course, Grammy never missed a one. Following the song, a waiter in broken English grinned & said, "It's not your Birthday is it?" We fessed up but not until we made sure the mistake would still be our gain. They obliged and we laughed until we cried, the waiter too, although I'm not sure the family of the intended Kathy were laughing.
Before her passing during one of the more non responsive days one of ours whispered in her ear of reaching a milestone, graduating getting a bachelors degree long in coming. There was sadness wondering if she heard? If she knew? Sadness because she couldn't make the graduation. We know how important education is to her. She knew, oh how she did. I know this because every step of the way she was there and she was glad. She will always be, for all of us. There is solace in that.
You were loved, Nancy Louise Pollnow. You will be forever missed. Rest, Nancy. Have comfortable peace, and always know that we will continue to include and lift up to you what is going on in the sphere of your family and friends. We will always leave the light on for you because you are the one that put the light in us. Much love, Kathy.
If there was an event, party or a wedding with music, you could always count on Nancy and Dan Pollnow to hit the dance floor. If the deejay started playing music from the 1950s, Dan and Nance turned it up a notch -- twirling, spinning, dipping and cutting a rug across the dance floor. We always knew that Dan and Nancy could get the party started. In this photo you can see the Pollnows dancing the night away at the Mary and Dillon Leisure wedding with family and friends enjoying the show. We will all miss seeing their dancing. It was a joy to watch.
For as long as I can remember, I have loved dogs. When I was about 6 or 7, I asked Mom if we could get another dog. Now Mom loved dogs too but I'm sure that despite our promises to take care of the dog, she knew that it would be just yet another thing for her to be responsible for. So to put me off, she told me that she wouldn't get another dog unless she got married again. She probably thought that with 3 young rowdy boys, it was highly unlikely that anyone would want to marry her. Well along came Dan a few years later. When Mom told us that they were going to be married, my selfish thought was "How does this benefit me?" I immediately responded, "So, does this mean that we can get a dog?" I am absolutely sure that she did not want to get another dog with all the upcoming life changes but she wasn't about to go back on her promise to me. So that's how we ended up with a beloved Shih-Tzu/Poodle mix named Fuji. Fuji gave us so much joy over the almost 20 years we had him. I can picture him sitting on Mom's lap in heaven as we speak. We now have 2 Shih-tzus and a Shih-tzu/poodle mix.
