Nancy Freeda Aderhold
May 2, 1933-April 25, 2010
Palo Alto, California

Nancy Freeda Paul Aderhold, 76, died April 25, 2010, at home in Palo Alto, Calif., after a long struggle with cancer.

She was born May 2, 1933, in Memphis, Tenn., to Erman and Edna Paul. She developed an appreciation for Southern culture while in Memphis and was the youngest of the Pauls' four daughters.

The Paul family moved from Memphis to El Paso, Texas, in 1944, and then to Las Cruces, N.M., in 1948, where she met her future husband, Jon Aderhold, while they were sophomores in high school. He became captain of the football team and she was a cheerleader. They were engaged in 1951, the summer after high school graduation, and were married April 2, 1953.

She became the bookkeeper at New Mexico State University, where Jon was an engineering student. Their son, William Randolph Aderhold, was born in Las Cruces on Nov. 27, 1954. They lived in married-student housing until Jon graduated in 1956. When Jon was commissioned an Army Second Lieutenant and sent to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., for training, their daughter, Brenda Lee Aderhold, was born on July 30, 1957, at the Aberdeen Proving Ground Army hospital. The family moved to San Diego, Calif., where she began her own college and university education.

Over the years, she studied at San Diego State University, UC Riverside, Foothill College, San Jose State University (earning a bachelor's degree in Social Science) and UC Berkeley, where she earned a degree of master's degree in Social Welfare in 1977. She became a geriatric social worker, then Director of Social Welfare at Lytton Gardens continuum-of-care senior residence in Palo Alto.

She loved travel and adventure. Over the years, with Jon and alone, she visited Mexico, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Morocco, Italy, Greece, the former Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia, Kenya, India, Australia, China, Japan, Puerto Rico and nearly all 50 United States.

She loved people and conversation. She had a strong faith in God and a lively curiosity. She enjoyed music, films, fine food, good wine and gourmet cooking. She played piano for friends and family and for her own amusement.

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