Nancy Perkins, 75, of Lawrence, passed away on July 31, 2026. Services celebrating Nancy’s life are currently being planned and will be announced by Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.
Nancy Elizabeth Golden Perkins died peacefully on July 31 with family and friends by her side. A Celebration of Life for Nancy is currently being planned and will be announced by Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home at Rumsey-Yost.com.
Nancy is survived by her spouse, Sam Perkins, daughters Harri (Leawood) and Clara (Lawrence), her sister Gail Golden (Sun City, AZ), her cousin Nancy Young (Olympia, WA) her cousin-in-law Nancy Draffkorn (Janesville, WI), and many friends. She was preceded in death by her beloved brother, Robert Arnold Golden (1951-1994), her cousin, Joseph Arnold Draffkorn (1942-2023), her mother Bette (Jacobs) Golden (1926-2019), and her father, George Arnold Golden (1915-1997).
Nancy was born on August 5, 1950 in Glen Ridge, NJ. Her family moved when she was six months old to Seattle, WA, where her brother was born August 6, 1951. Subsequent moves with her family were to Bellevue, WA and then to Northbrook, IL prior to her senior year in high school. After graduation she moved to Lawrence to attend the University of Kansas.
Nancy learned from her mother to sew clothes and to swim and ski. She later became a strong runner, swimmer and cyclist. Nancy pursued varied interests, always with enthusiasm and a bent toward service. She served as a referee at bike races. She loved birdwatching, gardening and making tofu with friends. She volunteered at The Willow Domestic Violence Center. She sang with the First Methodist Church choir as an undergraduate at KU. She performed the bell chant at Kansas Zen Center, where she was given the Buddhist name Dae Ja. She volunteered at Saint John the Evangelist Church. She loved being mom to Harri and Clara.
A central theme of Nancy’s life was her love of dogs. When she was young, she convinced her dad to bring home a family dog, Happy. After graduating from KU, she had two bloodhounds that she took to dog shows. She helped organize dog shows and volunteered at the Lawrence Humane Society. Dogs she adopted include her Irish wolfhounds Max and Toby, labradoodle Lucy, and golden retriever mix Goldie.
At the University of Kansas, Nancy earned a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Drama in 1973. After graduating, she followed career paths in teaching and watchmaking. She taught at Hilltop Child Development Center in the Gold Room, where she truly loved her work with children, and inspired her assistants in their own teaching careers. She was beloved by her pre-school students, many of whom are now having children of their own. She returned to KU in 1985 to combine her classroom work with graduate studies. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Human Development in 1991, and she wrote her thesis on “A use of modeling and role playing to teach assertiveness against peer aggression in four- and five-year-old children.” She continued integrating her classroom work with studies at KU in Special Education for teaching children with special needs. She learned American Sign Language to better serve her children at Hilltop.
Nancy’s career in watchmaking began as an apprentice, repairing watches for Horace Masden in downtown Lawrence. She later ran her own business, Golden Watch Repair, about which she was interviewed on local public television.
Nancy and Sam married on January 13, 2001. They raised daughters Harri (b. Aug 8, 2003) and Clara (b. Jul 20, 2010). Nancy cherished family time, whether it was making crafts and meals at home, reading books to Harri and Clara, bike rides and walks in the neighborhood, attending
school activities like band and choir, or regular family trips to enjoy hiking, bicycling and swimming.
Suggested donations in Nancy’s honor are to The Willow Domestic Violence Center at willowdvcenter.org, Lawrence Humane Society at lawrencehumane.org, and to the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org.
