Nancy Nickelson Pakulak, 65, of Ludington.

Nancy Pakulak

Nancy Nickelson Pakulak, 65, of Ludington.

Nancy Nickelson Pakulak, 65, was called to heaven unexpectedly on June 21, 2020 surrounded by her family.   Nancy was born on June 25, 1954 in Ludington to William and Sylvia Nickelson.    She graduated from Ludington High School in 1972 and attended Davenport College with classes in accounting and business management.    Nancy married Jimmy Pakulak in September 1975 and they were happily married for almost 45 years.

Nancy will be greatly missed by her husband Jimmy; daughter Kristen (Pakulak) Kuiper; and her beloved new granddaughter, Ella Kuiper.   Also surviving are her brother Bill (Cely) Nickelson Jr of Corning, NY; brother Jim (Beth) Nickelson of Ludington; her brothers-in-law/sisters in law Glenn (Gayle) Pakulak, Lynn (Tim) Carrithers, Gay (Mike) Anderson and Joy (Mark).  She is also survived by many cousins, nieces and nephews who she loved very much.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, William and Sylvia; her beautiful daughter, Kimberly; her mother-in-law,  Ann Pakulak, and father-in-law Walter Pakulak.

She enjoyed her role in life as a wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend to many.

After college and her marriage, Nancy and Jimmy joined the family nursery business, Needlefast Evergreens where they both worked to keep the farm on an even keel until their semi-retirement in 2017.    Nancy did everything from weeding the little trees, to sorting the trees in the spring and helping to run the office for over 40 years.   She and Jimmy also started and ran a successful seed business where they would purchase cones from various “pickers” and extract the seed which they then sold to other nurserymen.    Many of the red and white pine and white and Norway spruce trees around Michigan originated from seed that came from their business, Pakulak Seed and Nursery.   They actually just finalized their last run of cones this past spring .   They were going to fully retire to enjoy life visiting their new granddaughter and traveling.

Nancy was a true, devout animal lover and enjoyed the company of many dogs and cats and other rescue “critters”.   She valued them so much that she once held a funeral and burial for a small bird that she found that had been hit by a car.    

She enjoyed traveling to the western US national parks in the summers and to Cozumel, Mexico and Florida where they spent many happy, warm winters.  

According to her wishes, cremation has taken place and a private family only graveside service is being planned.    In lieu of flowers memorial contributions in Nancy’s name may be made to the Michigan Humane Society www.michiganhumane.org.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Oak Grove Funeral Home of Ludington, www.oakgroveludington.com