Nanci Eileen Seel

Nanci Eileen Seel, 55, died peacefully in the intensive care unit of Poudre Valley Hospital on Friday, November 23, 2012, in the presence of her husband and son. She was born in Stockton, California, on May 19, 1957, and graduated in 1979 from Sacramento State University with a degree in Geography. She is survived by husband Pete, son Peter James (P.J.), brother Gene (Ann) Gilmore of Clovis, Calif., and brother Tom (Kristi) Gilmore of Santa Cruz, Calif. She met her future husband when they both worked for the Education Department at Sutter Health, a large multi-hospital system based in Sacramento. Nanci worked in physician education conducting in-service training seminars for Sutter's medical staff. They were married at Incline Village, Nevada, on Lake Tahoe on February 18, 1990. When Pete enrolled in a doctoral program at Indiana University in 1991, Nanci supported the family by working as a travel agent for three years. Their first academic position took them back to California where they settled in the small town of Brisbane just south of San Francisco, where their son was born in December 1994. The family moved to Fort Collins in 1996 when Pete accepted an academic position at Colorado State University. Nanci worked as a pre-school teacher at Children's Workshop for four years and taught many of P.J.'s future classmates as preschoolers. She loved to travel and spent the spring term of 2003 in Wales in the United Kingdom and the spring term of 2006 sailing around the world on the MV Explorer as a participant in the Semester at Sea program. Nanci was a superb chef and enjoyed collecting new recipes to try out at dinner parties. Her sense of style and warm hospitality will be missed by those who knew her. She touched many people in a positive way as a wife, mother, physician educator, and a teacher - and as a hostess and gourmet chef. Her loss leaves a large empty space in the hearts of her family and close friends. Cremation has been conducted and inurnment will take place in late December in the Legacy Garden columbarium at the Estes Park Center. A celebration of Nanci's life will be held on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 at 3:30 p.m. in the Behavioral Sciences Building auditorium at CSU, 410 West Pitkin Street. In lieu of sending flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her name to the Food Bank of Larimer County or the Animal House rescue shelter.