- Date Of Birth: November 18, 1937
- Date Of Death: April 2, 2021
- State: Iowa
Nance’ Jane Burke Bloedow was born in Rockford, Illinois on November 18, 1937 to Jim and Susan (Pearson) Thomas. She was raised in Chicago and always was a devout Chicago Cubs fan! While attending Drake University in Des Moines she met her first husband Edmund A. Burke and raised their 4 surviving children in the Ankeny and Des Moines area. The marriage ended after 23 years.
Nance did graduate from Drake University in May 1975 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She enjoyed working with the Des Moines Art Center for many years and even displaying and selling some of her art there. She also displayed at the Hoyt Sherman Art Show, Iowa State Fair and Davenport, Iowa art shows among others. Nance also did many custom paintings and liked to hand paint Christmas Tree ornaments, doing 161 of these in one season. Nance also collaborated with two authors in Florida and did the illustrations for four children’s books that were published. Three of these can be found in the Drake Library.
Nance never knew a stranger and loved to work with people. She treasured the 34 years she worked for Vision Park Optical, and all of the people she worked with.
Nance married Richard Bloedow on February 14, 1984. They shared over 37 years of marriage together, and she was his Valentine forever.
On Friday evening on April 2, 2021, her beautiful heart stopped beating. She was surrounded by family while her loving husband, Richard, held her hand.
Nance was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Jim Thomas. She is survived by her sister, Jereva Olsen (Tom) of Punta Gorda, FL; her husband, Richard, of Urbandale; her sons: Ed Burke Jr., of Des Moines, IA, Chris Burke (Alex) of Pawtucket, RI, and John Burke (Susan), of Omaha, NE; daughter, Suzanne Campbell (Scott), of Ankeny, IA; her two step-daughters: Wendi Bloedow Barker (Chuck), and Nikki Bloedow (Erik), both of Des Moines; and 10 grand and 11 great-grandchildren.
Nance was a beautiful person in every way, and will be dearly missed by all who knew her.
