ANNETTE DOUGLAS

Annette West Douglas, aged 93, died on Thursday, November 10, 2022 peacefully at home, in her own bed, with her daughter, son and daughter-in-law at her bedside.

Nan was born in Park Falls Wisconsin in the northwest part of the state to Harold Trevor and Mary Weckler West when that area of the state was relative wilderness. Her father was a dentist and a trickster - he often intentionally discharged his water irrigation spray out of the open second story window of his dental office, hitting unsuspecting passersby below on the sidewalk so that they wondered how rain could fall from a clear blue sky. Lunacy. She loved him. One day, a lady anticipated this downtown routine and nonchalantly raised an umbrella as she walked by....

She was known as “Northwoods Nan” by all the locals and lived up to her name competing with all the town boys at athletics of all kinds and “out fishing” her father on the Chippewa Flowage - bagging the largest musky on a family outing when at the age of 10 she was featured in the local paper - the Park Falls Herald - with a photo of the giant beast because of widespread disbelief.

She would often say that as a kid she always had a ball in the air about to strike her in the head because her beloved older brother Walter needed someone to play catch with - he went on to a meteoric career as a Green Bay Packer which lasted two glorious weeks. He often said that that time was the highlight of his life and she loved Walter more than words could ever say. Together the two of them survived the hardships of life in those lean early times and Walt told her later “you kept our family together when the chips were down” ... so very true. Walt and Nan were cut from the same cloth and are now united in heaven.

Nan thought it was ridiculous that in girls high school basketball at that time the defensive and offensive players had to remain in the respective sides of the court - never crossing the half court line like the boys could because it was thought to be too strenuous for women - nonsense she said! Talk about ahead of her time.

She worked as a lifeguard on the Flambeau river and sold ice cream at the local swimming pool concession stand where her brother Walter would somehow manage to never completely eat his cone - simply returning at regular intervals with a smile on his face, empty sugar cone in hand and with all of his friends in trail for another free scoop as Nan rolled her eyes, but she also knew that money was tight and so bent the rules in the name of the cause.

Nan lost her father when she was but 13 and this tragedy shaped her future in so many ways. He suffered a fatal heart attack at age 47 while training to do facial reconstructive surgery in the Pacific theater during WW2. She became the head of the family instantly since, as was not unusual for the time, no one else in the family including her mother knew how to drive a car at that moment.

The local sheriff told her “Nan, I know what you are up against and will look the other way as you drive by on the way to the grocery store”. And so it is that Nan never in her entire life of 93 years took any formal driving instruction or ever took any form of a drivers test. But rest assured the family never went hungry. Amazingly she was called upon to shuttle uncles and aunts to far away destinations like Milwaukee from northern Wisconsin in a model T in those years only to return solo as a young teen - on roadways primitive by todays standard and often in the winter weather we all know too well but in days without cell phones or accurate weather forecasts.

Reportedly in her youth her own father mistook a railroad crossing for a crossroad in a blizzard in the Ford Model T and got stuck on a railroad tie in the midnight murk. Surely they would be killed by a passing train thought young Nan but thank God the snow abated and HT West freed the iron horse and returned to civilization.

Perhaps as a result she developed a profound interest in the wellbeing of all family during travels often ending a visit with “drive safe - let me know when you are home”.

Nan worked as an X-ray technician at the UW Hospital in Madison before marrying one of the radiologists, Dr. Bob Douglas, on May 4, 1960. Nan had a photo of Bob by her bedside and her last words with this in her sight were “My love”.

Nan was an excellent cook and her husband Bob loved to eat - a very fortunate circumstance. Eggs Benedict, steak Dianne, steak with Bearnaise sauce and flourless chocolate cake were regular features on the menu at Poplar Court in Neenah where she and Bob lived and loved and spoiled numerous cats and dogs for 53 years until Bob died in that very home in 2017.

Nan followed Bob's lead and also breathed her last surrounded by loving family at peace in her own bed on Poplar Court as she had hoped to do. Praise the Lord.

Nan was a Christian and was baptized and confirmed on the same day at the age of 12 in the little town of Park Falls variably in the Lutheran church and others. She most remembers her teen years in Park Falls as a member of the local congregational church interestingly also known for harboring poached beaver pelts behind the altar.

Nan enjoyed meeting with a hospice chaplain toward the end of her time on earth and is now with the Lord as she would point to the sky and say “Him' when asked who was in charge of her destiny.

Nan loved nature and for many years was a naturalist at Mosquito Hill Nature Center in New London. If she found a dead bird, she would put it in the freezer (next to some hockey pucks being readied for games on the frozen lake) so it could be preserved and displayed at the nature center. To this day her daughter-in-law is reluctant to look in that freezer. She also loved the Ridges Sanctuary in Baileys Harbor and her granddaughter Stella is in the process of securing memorial benches at both locations in Nan's honor.

Nan adored her grandchildren, Stella and Theo and delighted in all the events of their lives.

She shared tennis, pottery and basketball with them, all activities close to her heart and important in their lives. They cherished every moment with her and delighted in her candor and wisdom. “Free throws win games Theo !” and “Go Stella” will echo in their heads forever.

Nan was a competitor and learned to love the game of tennis later in life after age 40 but played until the age of 82 with her crew of similar minded women at the Oshkosh YMCA until father time caught up with her and arthritis mandated shoulder replacement surgery.

Nan loved to have fun and loved to laugh. Limericks and socks with inappropriate notations colored her life especially as she grew older. On the eve of her death she was cracking jokes and making pithy commentary on the news of the day - amazing.

When COVID hit she was unmoved and couldn't understand why the restaurants were closed.

She and her daughter Robin have been Sunday night regulars at Cannovas Italian restaurant in Neenah for many years carrying on a tradition started by Bob and Nan as soon as the restaurant opened.

At the height of the pandemic Nan begged the owner Debbie to let her in for a Manhattan if she could sit at the bar by herself. Debbie agreed and Nan happily drank her “Nanhattan” at the bar through a straw behind her mask - one of several such masks including one upon which the statement “I'm too old for this shit” was prominently displayed.

That, my friends, is what this amazing woman was all about. Never quit. Never abandon the cause. Put a smile on your face and carry on. Expect quality behavior but forgive shortcomings if deserved. If not look out...however, Nan would never expect you to do something she wouldn't do herself...true leadership and grace.

She would say “never get too big for your britches” and she lived a measured life and valued life's simple pleasures.

Nan has lived in Neenah Wisconsin for 60 years and as the angel of mercy that she was has been deeply involved with many service organizations including PEO, Tuesday club, Meals on wheels, cub scouts, brownies and more.

When she arrived in town the rules of the times were shockingly different from todays world... In many circles she was referred to as “Mrs Doctor Douglas” - she found that puzzling...

Nan was predeceased by her parents, her brother and an infant sister, Lois Jane as well as her husband Bob. Bob and Nan loved to travel and now, having seen much of this planet over the years embark on their final journey together.

Nan is survived by her daughter Robin, son Bruce, daughter -in -law Anne, granddaughter Stella , and grandson Theo - all of whom face the future confident and comforted but suddenly without the irreplaceable force of nature who quietly set the standard for her small family and drew the boundaries for agreed upon behavior spoken or implied from the present back to time immemorial. Cross the line and you would be made aware - Nan would say to her own children upon news of them being in trouble ...“Well you stupid shit” - meaning check yourself first and then reevaluate - often that process showed a way forward with a life lesson learned. She cared about herself and her family and expected quality behavior...but if upon further review the fault was elsewhere - look out - like a momma grizzly you better run! Her family nickname was Ming the Merciless and with good reason. She broke more than one wooden spoon over Bruce's rear end back in the day as corporal punishment was not off the table in those days for correcting bad behavior.

Nan is further survived by her dear sister-in-law, Mary Jo West, who was the sister Nan never had, and her nephews and nieces, Patrick (Robin) West, Lucy (Dan) McInerney, Thomas (Patti) West, Mary (Tom) Hall, and James West and many great nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her cousin-in-law, Paul Douglas.

Special family and friends include daughter-in-law Anne who never found fault and always bent to meet any need. Our dear friend Simon - whom Nan loved and from whom she for years delighted in the occasional blast of second hand smoke (given a false lung cancer scare for Nan in 1981 which cost her a lobe of her right lung and in the end was only pneumonia ... one way to quit smoking!). Our dear friend Lori who, from the first time of need on Poplar Court 20 years or more ago has served as an unfailing aid/friend/cocktail hour buddy to Nan (and before that Bob) who has and always will be the model of unconditional love - we are forever thankful! Bob, Marcy, John and Kathy formed the weekend coffee clutch at Carmel Crisp in Oshkosh every Saturday morning for years and kept Nan in the know and in stitches - she truly loved you all. Nan's long time stylist, Jane of Total Look Concept Salon in Neenah brought her talents to Nan in the home when travel became a challenge, a courtesy she also had shown to Bob. Nan simply loved “Hair Jane” who shared her love of animals - it was fitting that Jane was her last visitor on the day of her death.

The family would also like to thank Nan's doctors and nurses, the staff at Home Instead, and the people from Compassus Hospice. Thanks to them, and several years of live-in care from daughter Robin and endless scurrying from son Bruce, Nan was able to stay in her own home, and die there.

A celebration of life will be held at Westgor Funeral Home, 205 W. Doty Ave., Neenah on Saturday, November 19, 2022 from 2 to 4 pm at which time a brief service will be held. Reception/Nanhattans and Nannecdotes to follow at Cannova's, 1113 W. Wisconsin Ave...come for all or come for some. Consider a donation to your local humane society or Mosquito Hill Nature Center if so moved.

Nan always, always sent a Christmas card with a rhyme or poem.

She was in the process of creating one for this year 2022

So with apologies to the departed...

Hey there it's Nan with Christmas cheer

Apologies that I'm no longer here

I was but then things all changed

My life at once was disarranged

Friends and family at my side

I told them straight Its time I died

Love me true they always did

Agendas have been never hid

As a result we all felt

My time had come

On knees we knelt

And to the Lord our attention drawn

With a smile and a small yawn

I breathed my last...

And at once was gone

To your eye but not your heart

Silent to what you custom know

But on to greater glory though

Power you can slight Devine

Controls me now to the Sublime

In peace we part and I say

I love you all

Because its true

Soon, sweet soon again we meet some day...

I love you all

And hold you dear Fear not

I'm ever near

Love Nan