In Her Daughter's Own Words - Remembering Nancy Moyer

Nancy Moyer, of Northfield, Minnesota passed away on February, 11, 2019 at the Northfield Care Center. At the very top of this tribute, the family wishes to thank the staff of Millstream Commons, Three Links (Pathways) Unit and finally Northfield Care Center. As she made her way to her final breath, she was cared for lovingly and with the utmost respect and honor by the nurses and aides in all three of these facilities. A special thank you to those that were with me, Maureen, at the very end. You know who you are.

Nancy Moyer (Anne Gertrude Stewart) was born to Campbell Stewart and Jeanette Beck Stewart on August 15, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois. She grew up in a house of privilege which consisted of many trips to Vancouver to visit her father's relatives, was driven to school in a 1929 Cadillac, and sat at the dinner table - her place marked with a silver napkin ring with the initial "N" engraved on it. It wasn't long before she developed an interest in performance arts. She took ballet and discovered she had a lilting soprano. She attended Maine Township High, excelled in music and art, sang soprano in the chorus, and was the art director of the yearbook in 1939. It was there that she met her future husband, Russ Moyer.

Nancy and Russ were married between Russ' various tours of the South Pacific during WWII where he served as pilot for B24 Liberators. War ending, they made their way to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin where they raised their two children, Maureen and Michael. While there, Nancy worked alongside Russ in their jewelry store, and in later years, at Glen Loch Bar, which they owned together.

While in Chippewa Falls, Nancy developed a love for theater. She appeared in several plays including Teahouse of the August Moon and The Desperate Hours.

Nancy found herself single in the 70's and made her way to Marin County, California. Mill Valley became her home and she worked as a nanny for a number of families, plus a commune on Sycamore Street, where she cared for kids in exchange for her room. She enjoyed riding her bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, walking on Mt. Tamalpais, and spent time with her son, Mike, who lived there at that time, also. She expanded her (already out of the box) approach to religion by attending the Buddhist Temple in San Francisco. She practiced Hatha Yoga and played endless Ravi Shankar music. She loved telling the story of meeting Jerry Garcia sitting on a rock at an outdoor concert on Mt. Tam. She called her daughter one day and said, "I've just heard the best band at Black Oak Saloon in Fairfax...I think they're called Dire Straits."

Eventually, Nancy found her way to Northfield to be close to her grandson, Christopher, and called it home. She performed in several plays at the Northfield Arts Guild, most notably the female lead, Linda, in Death of a Salesman. She also performed in Playboy of the Western World which required a spot on Irish accent. But her crowning achievements in terms of theater were her 1982 and 1983 performances at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. She acted in A Christmas Carol and Our Town. Some of us can well remember her sweeping bows at the end of each performance, with a wink and a tiny wave in the direction of her family and friends. As she swept across that stage, she owned it. She learned much from the likes of Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Boyd Gaines and Leonard Nimoy.

Nancy is best known in Northfield for her Nanny Goat's Dry Flower Shop, in the Archer House, where she created charming creations ranging from wreaths (many containing bird's nests) to table arrangements, to festooned hats. Her wreaths graced local banks, churches, both colleges and dozens of homes, all made from native materials found in Minnesota. The secret location where she picked her Bittersweet remains unknown to this day.

Nancy was a political activist, worked for civil rights and women's rights, and spoke out loudly against the war in Vietnam. A photo of Nancy holding her War is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things was used as a backdrop for a Dallas, TX news program one night after a massive demonstration against the Vietnam War. She was tireless in working for George McGovern, so that is an indicator as to her political leanings.

Nancy was immensely proud of her Scottish heritage and in the 70's, along with sister, Martha, visited the Scottish home of her father called Lignwood of Scone. In her early 90's, she wrote the entire story of her father's immigration to America, detailed and factual. It can be read by visiting this site: nancy-moyer.blogspot.com/

Nancy was very well read. She inhaled books at one time ranging from serious novels like Anna Karenina, to The Bhagavad Gita and other books on Eastern Philosophy which helped shape her global view of life on earth, the mysteries of humanity using a lens that was accepting of all possibilities. She also was adept at using her computer and had her own Facebook page. Her stinging comments on current political figures can still be found on her page.

But her main focus in life were her children and her two grandsons, Christopher and Stewart. She'd take Christopher as a little boy for entire summers, and provided a loving home away from home that included swimming lessons and picnics in the park. She would make Golden Toast for Stewart and his friends who, also as a little boy, would spend every Friday night with her. She had unconditional love for both grandsons and her last words were declarations of love for each member of her family...one by one...over and over again. Those words still linger in our hearts.

On the last evening of her life, she listened to the entire opera, La Traviata, and silently mouthed 'Traviata' over and over again. She knew opera and could sing many parts of the arias.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, Campbell and Jeanette, sisters, Martha and Helen, and her brother, Irving. She is survived by her remaining brother Donald Hopf (Ardi) of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, daughter, Maureen Valley (Jerry) of Northfield, son, Michael (Wendy Nordquist) of Northfield, grandsons, Christopher Valley (Wendy) of San Mateo, California, and Stewart Moyer of Northfield, and several nieces and nephews.

A special thanks to Mary Stewart, Stillwater, MN, who unfailingly stayed in touch with her Aunt Nanny with cards, letters, and phone calls.

As for the photo accompanying this tribute, yes, that is a feather in her hair.

Plans are pending for an outdoor memorial later this year.

Lignwood

Nan Stewart's and Tom Ferguson's Wedding

Lignwood Estate

Scone, Scotland

Circa 1904

The Story of Campbell (Chapter 1)

This story of Campbell's life is written by his daughter Nancy. I have no notes, just dates that I have jotted down. All of the facts are from memory of the countless stories and anecdotes that he told me and my siblings during our growing up years. As children reared in the 1920's, we did not have the distractions of video games and television, so we relied on father for all our stories and history. We fought for a place on his lap, and one of my treasured memories is sitting on his lap, my head against his chest, listening to his Scottish brogue as he told us stories of growing up in the highlands of Perthshire.

Campbell Stewart was born on May 15, 1887, in the mains, Airlywight House in Bankfort, Perth, in Perthshire, Scotland. He was the second child born to James Stewart and Annie Campbell Stewart. Their first child was a girl Anne (Nan) born two years earlier. Campbell's birth was followed in rapid succession by the births of two more children, Helen and James.

Campbell's parents were the direct descendents of two of the most prominent clans in Scotland, the Stewarts and the Campbells. His father, James Stewart, was a vigorous young farmer who loved horses and farming, but who was also a good businessman and an elder in the Kirk. His mother, Annie Campbell, was the daughter of one of Perth's most prominent citizens, Peter Campbell, the founder and sole owner of the Perth Dye works, the huge mill that he built in the city of Perth. The Mill put Perth on the map as the center of the textile industry in Scotland in the 1880's. Peter Campbell also owned Lignwood, a stately mansion in the village of Scone, a short distance from Perth.

Unfortunately, Campbell's father's love for his horses cost him his life. His favorite riding horse that he rode all about the village and farm became ill with a kind of equine pneumonia. James made a steam solution and held a blanket over the horse's head, getting under the blanket with the horse to hold it in place so the horse could inhale the solution. Unfortunately, James contracted the illness himself and died within a few days. Campbell was eight and a half years old. It was a tragedy for the young family.

Campbell, Part II (Chapter 2)

Peter Campbell readily came to the rescue of his newly widowed daughter, Annie Campbell Stewart. He sold the Airlywight farm in Perthshire and put the money in a trust for Annie and her children. He then moved the entire family in Lignwood, Scone. He had one son living there at the time, Edward. Peter was delighted to have all his grandchildren under his watchful eye and to have his daughter there to care for her mother who had suffered a slight stroke. He also brought along two of James Stewart's ploughmen and hired them as groundskeepers along with a stable boy. So, almost the entire household from Airlywight ended up at Lignwood. There was also a cook and parlormaid on the estate. Campbell and Helen loved exploring all the rooms and attic, plus the wonderful cupula at the top of the house where there was a lookout and a flagpole. Nan, their older sister, was more inclined to "sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam" and loved entertaining her little friends in the garden gazebo. James, the youngest, was a rather sickly child who was small and had frequent colds. He required extra care, so Annie Campbell Stewart had her hands full. But they all loved Lignwood with it's spacious lawns, tennis court, gardens, and stables.

One of the two ploughmen hired as groundskeepers took Campbell under his wing and patiently taught him to fish, and the two of them spent many happy hours fishing the nearby Tay River. He also introduced little Helen to gardening, and provided her with her own little garden space on the Lignwood grounds. This made her supremely happy and she became a gardener for life. On trips to the seashore, she and Campbell would collect large shells that she would use to border and define her flower beds. It was a happy time for the children.

The only cloud for Campbell was having to sit in his grandfather's pew in the Baptist Church of Scotland every Sunday listening to the Rector and then the painful visits with his grandfather to the Rectory. He hated all the hellsfire and brimstone that was preached there and made a secret vow that, when he grew up, he would never darken the door of a church again.

When I visited the Kirk in Scone in 1974, there was my great grandfather's name on a plaque on the church wall. Campbell also kept his vow!

The four Stewart children all attended Perth Academy in Perth for their early school years. Campbell's passion for fishing continued into his teens and he became an expert fly fisherman, bringing home lines of trout and salmon (in season). One of his favorite spots was the ancient stone bridge in Perth. Sometimes Helen would accompany him, bringing her little trowel and a bucket to dig up pretty plants or flowers to transplant in her garden.

At the age of 12, Campbell made a memorable trip to London with his mother, Aunt Nellie, and his sister Nan, to go shopping and sightseeing. Their carriage was stopped, and the Queen's guard of six mounted guardsmen approached and signalled them to pull to one side. They did so and the Queen's black carriage approached. Campbell became very excited, jumped up and waved vigorously. She tilted her head at him and smiled and waved back. It was Victoria, and an exciting moment for a twelve year old from Scotland. It was at this age, as he was heading into his mid-teens, that he learned to play rugby, and that became as much of a passion as fishing had been. He loved it and had excellent coaches at the private Merchison Castle School for boys in Edinburgh, which he attended in his teens.

The Perthshire Rugby Football Club. Campbell is 4th from left, back row.

America! (Chapter 3)

After the four Stewart children completed their studies at the Perth Academy, Nan, the oldest, was sent to a private "finishing school" in Belgium, Campbell to Merchison Castle School in Edinburgh, and Helen attended a private school in France. Young James wanted only to be a farmer, so his grandfather sent him to Agricultural College. Nan completed her studies while Campbell was still in school and became engaged to Tom Ferguson (of the clan Ferguson) that was as much a part of the history of Perthshire as the Stewarts and the Campbells. Peter Campbell was delighted, and the wedding (a garden wedding), was held on the grounds of Lignwood. All the guests came in full Highland dress and the women in flowing gowns and large hats. Campbell wore his first adult kilt made especially for the occasion by the kiltmaker in Edinburgh. Helen wore a white dress and a tartan sash.

James did not have a new kilt and so watched the entire ceremony from a tree!

The wedding was the social event of the season and Peter Campbell was very proud! The couple honeymooned in London, but settled in Perth as Tom Ferguson had joined the famous Black Watch regiment headquarterd in Perth. Nan quickly became pregnant and within three years gave birth to two children, Ann and Bill Ferguson. She left her husband after just four years of marriage. She claimed that he threw her down the stairs and she broke her arm and she accused him of being an alcoholic. Perhaps he was, but he died a hero in WW1 leading his Black Watch regiment and had the rank of Captain. Campbell liked him!

Nan moved to London with her children after receiving a comfortable settlement with the well to do Ferguson clan. While all this was happening, Campbell finished at Merchison Castle and enrolled in the University where for two years he studied history and anthropology, his two favorite subjects all of his life! His grandfather was becoming impatient to start him in the Perth Mill as he had pegged Campbell to take it over. So, Campbell went to work with his grandfather in running the mill. But, after awhile his grandfather insisted that he take bookkeeping and accounting as he did not have these skills. So, Campbell agreed and took a two year course. After another year of running the mill, Campbell made the decision that this was not what he wanted.

He wanted to go to AMERICA!

Campbell as a Young Man (Chapter 4)

Campbell was twenty four years-old when he left Scotland and did not know that it would be forever. He went to London to prepare for his move to America. His sister, Nan, was living in London with her two children. She had a lovely flat in Chelsea and attended drama classes there with the hopes of someday going on the stage. Campbell got his own flat along with his cousin, Willie Roy, his Aunt Nellie's son. The two young men explored London, dating girls, going to the theater, galleries and parks punting on the Thames.

His grandfather sold the mill to a man named Pullar and retired at the age of 86 to Lignwood. He died suddenly a year later. That left his mother, grandmother, and his young uncle Edward at Lignwood. Helen and James had finished school. James had gone to Australia to possibly farm there, and Helen was taking nursing classes with the hopes of becoming a nurse in the army. World War 1 had erupted in Europe and Campbell knew that was the time to sail for America. He had spent two years in London when he left and was approaching his late twenties. He felt that he had much to offer with three years of experience in the mill, an excellent education, and full knowledge of the woolen business, cleaning, dyeing, weaving...all aspects of it.

His cousin, Willie Roy, had decided to accompany him. Willie was the same age, but had no real plans. They spent a couple of weeks exploring New York - so different from London and Edinburgh. Willie was beginning to get homesick, but Campbell forged ahead. He packed a shoebox full of sandwiches and hard boiled eggs and boarded a train for Chicago.

Willie returned to Scotland.

Campbell arrived after three days and two nights on the train in the bustling, huge Chicago Depot. He was aware of how very different he was right away. Dressed in his tweeds and wearing a cap did not command as much attention as his politeness and cultivated Edinburgh Scottish brogue. People turned their heads when he spoke just to listen.

And so Campbell had his first taste of Chicago, a city like no other!

Campbell in Chicago (Chapter 5)

After finding a boarding house room on the North Side, Campbell settled in to the City.

This was the World War era, and before the 20's. Women's Suffrage was on the march, there was labor unrest and Ragtime was the music of the day. Women still wore long skirts and had not yet bobbed their hair. Motor cars were just beginning to take over the streets, but horses were still everywhere. There was more yelling than Campbell was used to, and people weren't terribly polite.

Since it was the meatpacking capitol of the entire country, Campbell was amazed at the abundance of meat in butcher shops, restaurants and everywhere! Women wore smaller hats than he was used to and showed more of their legs on street cars. They also visibly chewed gum!

A culture shock it was for Campbell!

But, he was fascinated by it all. He noted right away that there were no family owned mills like his grandrfather's in Chicago. All the factories were huge. He had no idea where to apply for a job, and finally decided to apply at the largest mail order house in the world at that time - Sears Roebuck and Company. He had no sooner filled out an application when he was hired on the spot! He was given the job as head of the Accounting Dept, which surprised him, and he learned that his predecessor had "joined up".

He made some good friends, and it wasn't long before he began going to a dance hall where all the single men and women employees of Sears spent their time in their off hours. He learned to dance the "turkey trot" and other dances of the day.

It was there that he met Jeanette and fell totally in love for the first time in his life.