July 29, 1949 - May 26, 2016

Nancy B. Stratford, 66, passed away on May 26, 2016 after complications resulting from a six year battle with cancer.

Born in Anaconda, Montana on July 29, 1949, Nancy was the youngest child of Rudy and May Preskar. In the 1970s, she bravely moved away from her small town to Southern California, where she met Daniel Stratford. Dan and Nancy were married on June 6, 1981, and Nancy became stepmother to Cari, Scott, and Mitch, a role she took on with sincere commitment and love. Nancy later gave birth to her daughter Kelly, beginning yet another role in which she immersed herself wholeheartedly.

Nancy lived in her Downey home for over thirty years and held the position of Senior Personnel Assistant for the Downey Unified School District, where she enjoyed the work she completed but loved the people with whom she worked even more.

Nancy enjoyed spending time with her husband, Dan. Even as they were enduring the multiple obstacles following Nancy’s initial cancer diagnosis, Nancy and Dan often found the silver-lining in those moments and sought out opportunities to smile and laugh with each other.

Nancy is survived by her husband Daniel Stratford; her sister and brother-in-law Merrilyn and Ron Marker; her children and sons-in-law Cari and Will Welliver, Mitchell Stratford, and Kelly and Rick Crespo; her grandchildren Ali and Megan Welliver; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial service for Nancy will be held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Downey, California at 10:30 a.m. on June 6, 2016, Dan & Nancy’s 35th wedding anniversary.