Nancy E. (Meineke) McQuaid

NANCY E. (MEINEKE) MCQUAID

Cedar Rapids

On Oct. 20, 2020, a powerful and beautiful spirit was released into the universe. Heaven help us all. Nancy (Meineke) McQuaid, much beloved mother, daughter and sister, loyal friend, shaman, and the woman who enjoyed considering how to get away with the perfect murder (just in theory!), and was unforgettable to anyone lucky enough to have met her. Nancy's sparkling blue eyes and cackling laugh made everyone adore her. Anyone who knew Nancy knew how much she loved her daughter, Julia. Nancy's greatest accomplishment – and she had many to choose from – was that she raised Julia to be a strong and compassionate woman. Nancy will be deeply missed by those she left behind on Earth.

Nancy is survived by her daughter, Julia; brother, Duane Meineke; sister-in law, Linda Meineke; nieces and nephews; and more friends than can be counted.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Frederick "Fritz."

Nancy Evelyn was born Nov. 14, 1948, in Anamosa, to Paul and Margaret (Fisher) Meineke. She was united in marriage to Paul J. McQuaid. They later were divorced.

For 18 years, Nancy worked in Dr. Randolph's office and raised her daughter. Nancy always was ready for a challenge and a chance to reinvent herself.

With lipstick on her teeth and toothpaste on her dress, Nancy helped thousands of people during her nearly 16 years with Cedar Memorial as a family service counselor. When advocating for her client families, Nancy was never very good at processing the words "no" or "can't," and it was amusing to watch her colleagues contort themselves into pretzels in order to fulfill her promises. Nancy was the patron saint of the disenfranchised. She was an advocate for those in society who had no one else who cared. She treated everyone with kindness, dignity, and compassion. And they were cosmically drawn to her as if Nancy was their North Star. She made her friends laugh by telling stories about some of her early acquaintances like "Jimmy No-Knees," driving a tractor down First Avenue in a dress, or explaining that your headache will feel so much better once it stopped hurting.

Nancy faced her greatest challenge when she faced cancer head-on. She spent her last days surrounded by her family at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Palliative Care Unit.

This remarkable woman will be celebrated at a private family services at the Cedar Memorial Park Chapel of Memories. The service will be livestreamed

on Saturday at 10 a.m. and may be viewed at client.tribucast.com/tcid/14849331.

Burial in the Green Center Cemetery near Morley. There will be a visitation from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the State Room at the Cedar Memorial Chapel of Memoires. As mandated by proclamation, social distancing must be practiced, which requires a limited number of people to be allowed into the visitation at one time. The use of face masks or shields are required.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the Palliative Care Unit at the University of Iowa because Nancy can't take no for an answer. Memories and condolences maybe shared on www.cedarmemorial.com under obituaries.