Nancy Berkman

Nancy Louise Berkman passed away on February 21, 2025, at Cascade Creek Memory Care. She was born on October 5, 1947, in Rochester, Minnesota to John Worrall and Georgeanne Maytum Berkman. A fact that Nancy would only acknowledge if firmly pressed was that the Mayo brothers were her great-great uncles. She grew up in the Homestead neighborhood and as a child loved accompanying her father to the Medical Sciences Building where he worked as an engineer on the Mayo heart-lung bypass machine. When IBM came to Rochester in the 1950's, the family moved to Binghamton, New York for a period while he trained for the company. Her parents divorced and her family moved to Winona, Minnesota for her mother to attend college.

Nancy graduated from Winona Senior High School in 1965 and attended Shimer College in Mount Carrol, Illinois for a year. She worked at various jobs in Rochester, such as the Rochester Public Library and the restaurant in the Kahler Hotel. She spent periods living in Chicago and San Francisco. She also spent time living in New York City, which was particularly important to her. Working as an estimator with a Madison Avenue advertising agency, she loved the culture and attended every museum she could find.

Back in her home state, her next adventure was to have a go at homesteading in the Iron Range. The country lifestyle-including working with farm animals and experiencing a tornado-was supplemented by working as a nurse's aide in a 40-bed hospital. Returning to Rochester, she started working at Mayo Clinic in 1975. She held various positions there, obtained an Associate Degree in Science from Rochester Community College, and completed the Mayo School of Health-Related Sciences Radiography Program. Her last position was in Surgical Coding, from which she retired in 2008 after 33 years of service at Mayo.

Nancy was a gentle, but very independent and determined, soul. She was always ready for a new adventure. Inheriting some of her Grandmother Elinora Maytum's genes, she loved traveling, camping, state parks, nature, animals, pets and taking long road trips with her granddaughter across the Western United States. Quilting was her true passion and she belonged to several quilting organizations, attended gatherings and won prizes. Other interests were antiques, singing in choirs, cooking and baking. She loved colorful clothing, Twilight Zone, Beatles, Monty Python, reading books and the New Yorker Magazine, Moby Dick, The Wizard of Oz, movies ranging from old musicals to the latest sci-fi, garage sales, checking in at Savers to see what she could find, savoring the past at Old Rooster Antique Mall, and strolling through hardware store aisles. Anytime she walked downtown Rochester she admired the Old Public Library and Plummer Buildings-and expressed her disdain at what has been lost. Nancy loved her home and cherished having coffee with her close friends. A visit to Cheap Charlie's for breakfast, a gathering with friends at El Carambas, or a takeaway from India Garden were met with great delight-and she was always happy to share in a piece of Bunny Coconut Cake from Canadian Honker.

Nancy was preceded in death by her second husband Gregg Cain. She is survived by her sister Dulcie Berkman, brother Joseph Berkman, half-siblings Amelia Newsam and John Berkman, first husband Gary LeQuia, son Jesse, granddaughter Abigail, great granddaughter Jade, and her special friend and companion, Tom Kinter.

Nancy faced her dementia diagnosis bravely. She accepted it without much complaint, went about her daily life as always, and continued enjoying long walks and road trips as she quietly took on the increasing limitations when she had to.

Given her adventurous spirit, Nancy is now on a grand journey over the rainbow. Her smile and our fond memories of her are her parting gifts to us. Godspeed, our Dear Nancy!

A Celebration of Life for Nancy Berkman will be held at Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Home, 5421 Royal Place NW, Rochester, MN, on Thursday, March 27, 2025, from 4:00 -7:00 pm. Please bring written or spoken anecdotes to share. At some future time, Nancy's remains will be interred near her father at Oakwood Cemetery.

Memorials in Nancy's name may be made to Mayo Clinic for Alzheimer's disease research or Mayo Hospice.

Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Home is honored to be serving the Berkman family. To share a special memory or condolence, please visit www.ranfranzandvinefh.com.