Nancy Lynn Zielonka-Kahanek

Nancy Lynn Zielonka- Kahanek was born to Joyce DeDear Zielonka and Emil Zielonka 9/28/55. Just 3 weeks shy of her 68th birthday, she took her glass of ice tea and sat down on the porch of her cabin. She put her feet up, closed her eyes, and her heavy heart was healed when she woke up in heaven to the tiny arms of her little girl, Kyndil, wrapping around her neck. Her beloved little fur babies Fox and Rio hopping into her lap wanting their pieces of buttered toast she always fixed for them, along with her ever loyal rescued lab Willow, and mutt Ehou, by her side, once again to walk with her as she met our Lord, finally at peace, 9/7/23.

Nancy’s life here was filled with hardships, and it often dealt her a cold hearted hand, but she always held her head high, and never backing down from a fight for fairness, despite odds stacked high against her. She was a stubborn, short little gal, but she always told us, “Dynamite comes in small packages”, and boy was she right.

When her little girl, Kyndil, was taken too young by medical malpractice, Nancy fought hard for years, not for money, but for reform, and the doctors to remember a little girl who should not have died. She always said the thing she missed most was the feel of Kyndil’s tiny arms around her neck.

She said she was able to smile again the day she met her treasured grandbaby, Meggie. When Megg was born, mom exclaimed, “She’s perfect! Just like a tiny teacup!” Out of all the names Nancy had, being her “Teacup”’s “Gabbie” (grandma) was the one she was most proud of. She loved telling Meggie stories of her childhood, from her family hiding in the storm shelter at her grandparent’s house, to the ghost of a black bull that’d walk upright the pasture in the moonlight looking for his family. Meggie and her Gabbie would spend hours out in the pasture pretending to be real mountain women. They once built a lean to near the pond, with a campfire. It rained that night, but they stayed snug under the tarped shelter. Meggie remembers listening to Gabbie tell her ghost stories all night and the cats coming to snuggle with them as they listened to rain on the tarp. She loved getting a hotel room in town near where Meggie lived so Megg and her friends could go swimming and “live in luxury” they’d call it. She was everyone’s “Gabbie”. She taught Meggie how to swim, cook, can, and then later how to drive. She was the best grandma!

Nancy always loved the mountains, and when she could, she’d escape to the mountains of north Idaho to visit her daughter Sommer and her beloved Teacup. She dreamt of moving there someday and snowbirding. Nancy loved to listen to the Canadian geese and smell the sweet grass floating over a mountain valley. She loved riding the back roads with “her girls” picking apples, elderberries, and blueberries that she’d take home to make jam for her son Josh, his girlfriend Hannah, her brother/best friend Alvin, and the rest of her beloved family down south.

For over 2 decades she worked as a private duty nurse for the same family. They became a second family to her, and she loved them all dearly, oftentimes working on her days off to make homemade ice cream sandwiches for the kids.

She loved canning, and growing her own food. Her Saturdays were often spent cooking a big meal in the afternoon for Josh, Hannah, and Alvin, and then after dinner watching an episode of The Chosen with the kids and hunting dogs. Sunday mornings she would cook a big breakfast that consisted of homemade beer battered biscuits, eggs from her chickens, home made bacon that she cured and cut herself, and pan seared potatoes!

Nancy was a big hunter of deer, pigs, dove, duck, and even sandhill crane, and while she didn’t actually shoot anything she still loved going. She would always be ready to clean whatever was shot and eager to cook it as well!

Nancy had a gift for cooking large delicious meals. If you ever ate with her, I guarantee she was sending you home full and with leftovers along with some jars of pickles or peaches.

Sommer & Megg are planning a celebration of life and snackluck, March 30th at Yorktown Community Dining Hall, 3-6pm. Mom always said she wanted for folks to remember her when they saw the wildflowers blooming. We’re inviting everyone who knew and loved Nancy to come, share stories and vittles, spread some seeds, and remember the woman who fought hard, loved harder, and was the best damn cook ever!

We’ll miss you Mom/ Gabbie.

Arrangements by Massey Funeral Home, Yorktown, TX 361-5642900