Nancy Meeks Zeilig Lively
April 28, 1943 - September 5, 2023
Beloved Mother of Sasha Zeilig Whitten, Wife of Kenn Lively, Daughter of Evelyn Meeks, Niece of Miriam Hawkins, Granddaughter of Dee Self, surrogate child, parent and grandparent to many, trusted friend and mentor, author, editor, and activist died peacefully in her long-term Denver home surrounded by family.
The celebration of her glorious life will be held on Saturday, 11/11/23 in the Denver area.
For more information please visit https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nancylively
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Nancy Dee Meeks was born to Evelyn Self Meeks and Ed Meeks and raised in Dickson, TN. She was a studious, social and special young person. Before graduating highschool, she won the Miss Dickson County Beauty Pageant not only for her beauty, but also her skilled piano playing.
Soon after, she married her first sweetheart, Lanny Fielder, and went off to Birmingham Southern to major as a concert pianist, though after hours and hours practicing alone in a little room, she switched her major to English. After college, she taught highschool English and worked at Vanderbilt University. During the sixties, she lived in New York City and spent the Summer of Love in San Francisco.
During the 1970’s, Nancy met and married Chuck Zeilig. They lived in Nashville and Minneapolis before buying her forever home in Denver in 1976. Their only daughter, Sasha, was born in April of 1979. During this time, Nancy helped build the fledgling Denver Magazine as editor in Chief.
In the 80’s, Nancy juggled being an amazing mother with her busy full time career as Editor of the American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) monthly journal publication. This job created many opportunities for her over the years, including many lifelong friends and myriad business trips to places such as Malawi, Paris, and Los Angeles. After almost 19 years, Nancy retired to start her own writing and editing business from her home office which she ran until July of this year.
It was in the 90’s that Nancy fell in love with Kenn Lively, her third and final husband. They took it slow, dating for 9 years before he finally moved in, and 6 more years before they were wed in 2006. For their honeymoon, they spent 3 weeks in Italy. Over their 32 years together, they adventured to 4 continents, countless countries, and too many magical cities to name!
Nancy’s spiritual path was unique. She was raised Methodist; she raised her daughter in the Jewish tradition because Sasha’s father is Jewish and they both agreed that some kind of religious upbringing would be beneficial. She became fascinated with Native American Culture and spiritual practices which opened up into her joining a Pagan women’s group called Sisters of the Moon and attending three Goddess Gatherings with Sasha.
Nancy was an intersectional feminist and lifelong political activist fighting racism since the 50’s, supporting women’s rights since the 60’s, and human rights and social justice since forever. Throughout her life, she campaigned and canvassed for multiple political candidates whom she believed in and worked so hard on Obama’s campaign that she and Kenn got to meet him and Michelle at the White House.
Nancy was a researcher, archivist, and avid reader. She was a founding member of her Book Club for 40+ years. Her home is a library and treasure trove of souvenirs.
She was a traveler. She loved to live each trip three times. First, she’d plan it. Then she’d do it. And finally she would nostalgically capture it for posterity in the form of photo albums, scrap books, and her small library of used travel guides. This also applied to events. For example, she planned and delegated her entire 80th birthday party in April of this year. She made friends everywhere she went and cultivated these relationships into near-and-far family through her consistent correspondence.
She was a brilliant singer, participating in women’s choruses, signing back up for Kenn, and lullabies to Sasha.
She killed house plants, but loved to grow select outdoor plants, and eat plant-based food. She was an excellent cook and adored improving recipes which she and Kenn would serve to visiting guests at “The Hudson St. Grille.” She loved sweets, mayo, and creamy delights.
She loved to dance and discovered a joy in Pilates in later years.
“Fast Nance” moved slowly, but was blessed with a quick wit, wicked sense of humor and enjoyed language thoroughly, especially a satisfying curse word now and again. She was sassy, stubborn, and sweet… and always a little bit rebellious.
Nancy had a huge heart and loved many people truly, madly, deeply. She never lost the best of her Southern-belle traits. She shared her warmth, hospitality, and genuine curiosity by asking loads of questions about others. She had a knack for remembering names, dates, places, and details of people’s lives whom she cared about. She wrote Christmas cards every year and thank you cards for every gift, invite, or caring gesture.
Nancy’s battle with bladder cancer lasted for 23 years! And she beat the sh*t out of it (as she would say) until very recently. For twenty years, the cancer remained contained in the bladder as small stalagmite and stalactite growths which were easily manageable. However, in more recent years, it migrated up her ureter and into a kidney which she then had removed. Then it metastasized to her lung, lymph, and spine. Even though she toughed it out through radiation, chemo, and immunotherapy, another round she was unwilling to do.
Nancy was visited by many close friends during her final months, weeks, and days. Many messages of gratitude and sympathy were sent. People loved her, admired her, and relied on her.
She was always a Boss… and her death was no different. It went down just as she wanted it to. As soon as she put her mind to it, it was simply a matter of time before she convinced her body to catch up. Nancy died peacefully at her home, surrounded by her daughter Sasha, husband Kenn, and two of her closest surrogate grandkids Annie and Miah.
She always said, “the only way I’m leaving this house is on a gurney.” And that’s exactly what she did.
Her memory lives on in her family, friends, and written contributions including her memoir she completed just this year.
She would like to encourage you to remember that: “All you need is love!”
Nancy, Kenn and Sasha would like to remind you that death is part of life, and that as heartbreakingly awful as it is, it is also natural, nothing to be afraid of, and a process blessed by Grace.
If you’d like to read more about their journey, please feel free to read Sasha’s journal entries from the past month and share your memories and love of Nancy here (request access and be approved): https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nancylively