- Date Of Birth: March 8, 1928
- Date Of Death: May 26, 2022
- State: Colorado
Fauneal Ekberg Nash was born on a farm near Broadwater, Nebraska on March 8, 1928. She was the sixth of eight children. Her parents lost their farm during the Dust Bowl days of the 1930’s.
She and her first husband, Walt Perkins, had four children and homesteaded their own farm for ten years near Hot Springs, S.D. Later she earned an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration at Tulsa Junior College. She held secretarial positions in Scottsbluff, Nebraska and at VA Hospitals in South Dakota and Fayetteville, Arkansas. In Tulsa, Oklahoma she had a long career at the Corp of Engineers, starting as a Department Assistant in the Safety and Legal Offices and retiring as a Systems Analyst. Always a fighter for fairness and justice, she filed (and won) an anti-discrimination law suit that went all the way to Secretary of Defense. She was proud to have raised working conditions for all women in the Corp of Engineers. Five years after her husband Walt died she remarried Jerry Nash. Fauneal lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma for 50 years before moving to Colorado to be near family.
Fearless of snakes or big spiders, Fauneal knew how to shoot a gun, do tricks on a motorcycle, drive a tractor, ride a horse, bale hay, sew expertly, and beat anyone at bridge. She was an avid crossword puzzle solver and became a bird lover, faithfully feeding hummingbirds and enjoying wildlife while canoeing the Illinois River at her family Ozarks retreat at Flint Ridge, Oklahoma.
Her greatest joy was helping others.
Fauneal died peacefully at her daughter Ruthanne’s home on May 26, 2022 at the age of 94 in Centennial, Colorado. She was preceded in death by husbands, Walt Perkins and Jerry Nash; her son Norman Perkins and granddaughter Penley Warinner. Fauneal is survived by her brother, Ethen “Swede” Ekberg, three of her four children: Ethen Perkins, Ruthanne Wright, and Gaylene Perkins. Also by 11 grandchildren: Rachel Perkins, Ruthie Arad, Sam Perkins, John Perkins, Lauren Wright, Michael Wright, Jacob Perkins, Anna Wright, Katie Perkins, Grace Keller and Isaac Keller. She had 12 great-grandchildren: Max, Jada, Charis, Asher, Willa, Selene, William, Dorian, Momo, Calvin, Olivia and Ethan–as well as many beloved nieces and nephews.
