Lasting Memories

Nancy Ann Salmon
Oct. 9, 1947-March 12, 2018
Redwood City, California
Submitted by Shawn Salmon

It is with sadness that the family of Nancy Salmon announces her peaceful passing in her home in Redwood City on Monday, March 12, 2018.

The daughter of Raymond James and Virginia O’Laughlin, Nancy was born in Oak Park, Illinois on October 9, 1947. She received her Bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana in 1969 and married the same year. She worked as a special education teacher in Illinois for several years before becoming a full-time homemaker. After the family moved to the Bay Area in 1984, Nancy immersed herself in the children’s school theater productions, sports teams and academic pursuits and was an active member of the Sacred Heart school community in Atherton. She beamed at any opportunity to tell her friends how proud she was of her children.

Nancy loved to read. She was always with book in hand. For the last 17 years, she shared this passion for books of all kinds - classics and new releases, thrillers and non-fiction, stories that were joyful or heartfelt - with the local community through her work at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park. She developed a dedicated and large following of readers, publishers, authors, friends, co-workers and anyone else interested in one of the noteworthy recommendations on “Nancy's shelf.” At her retirement in 2016, she reminded co-workers and friends of the simple joy she found practicing the art of “putting the right book in each customer’s hand.” She was a constant and vocal champion for independent bookstores, her local community and a good story of any kind.

Nancy was predeceased by her parents Raymond and Virginia and her infant brother Joseph and; she is joined in heaven by her brother-in-law, Jim Schell, who passed away on March 17, 2018. Nancy will forever be in the hearts of her surviving relatives including sisters Sue Schell and Carol Church; her three children and their spouses Kevin and Caryn (McNamee) Salmon, Patrick and Bryanne (Raines) Salmon and Shawn and Nic Maisano; and her six grandchildren Quinn, Shay, Raymond and Duggan Salmon and Sophia and Christopher Maisano. Nancy was also beloved by numerous cousins, nephews, nieces and their children.

A memorial service to celebrate Nancy's life will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 25, 2018 at St. Raymond’s church (1100 Santa Cruz Ave, Menlo Park, CA 94025) followed by a reception at Kepler’s Books (1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025) beginning at 4:30 p.m. Nancy’s final resting place will be All Saints’ Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that friends purchase books in store or online at Keplers.com. Many of her reviews are viewable on her Goodreads page and recent recommendations are on display on her shelf at Kepler’s.