A wonderful family reunion occurred on November 20, 2021, when Nanette DeMuesy, newly 95, rose from her nursing home bed to join her adored parents Laviora and Adam, and her cherished brothers Dick and Tom. Did you hear the rejoicing?
Cause of death was having exhausted an incredibly full life stuffed with laughter and love and books and speeches and humor and wit and duty and purpose and—above all, and most important to Nan—dear family and friends. Hers was a rich, busy and productive life … and she got an early start at it.
Nan was proud to be a ‘Hoover’ kid, and secured a position at her dad’s place of employment as a youngster of eight eager for action, going office to office delivering smiles along with the official company newsletter printed on peach colored paper. Was this what gave her the bug to head off to Northwestern University and earn a journalism degree in 1948?
Nan returned home to North Canton and a position at the Repository reporting the arts scene, before taking a position in front of the chalk board teaching Journalism and English at the old Lincoln High School in 1950. For so many of her lucky students, Miss DeMuesy was THAT teacher—helping them excel at their studies, put out a student newspaper that earned awards, realize their own potentials, and go on to lead happy and productive lives themselves.
Her incredible ability with words brought her to Frease & Shorr Advertising in 1952, as a copy contact. Ten years later, she launched DeMuesy Advertising and Marketing, providing her grateful clients with effective ideas and copy while bringing in her old employer F&S to execute art and design. It was a win-win-win situation for all … the way she always strived to make things.
Living the professional life did come at a cost—for anybody who ever took a bite of anything Nan ever attempted to cook. Unable to domesticate herself the way she could all those feral cats taken in over the years, her only recipe card was for Green Bean Medley and her lone attempt at Thanksgiving Dinner (when her oven conked out requiring a 6am dash across the street to use her neighbor’s) resulted in the poor bird (and Nan) skidding down an icy road upon their behinds. (A new oven was purchased many years later…it was used to store unopened cookbooks).
As a result, many, many, many waitresses throughout North Canton got to well know the face — and the sarcastic humor— of this funny woman who liked to take lunch and dinner with her constant sidekick, Anne Gergel.
But then, Nan was ALWAYS spreading cheer around her favorite place in the whole world. In fact, as was once noted in an article about her: “In 1943, Nan DeMuesy was a cheerleader for North Canton High School—but she never stopped rooting for North Canton.” How true. The evidence is everywhere…
The life-sized bronze of Boss Hoover in Bitzer Park, which she helped initiate and fund. The ‘Returning the Books’ sculpture in front of the library, a gift to her community in honor of her parents. The large plaque in memory of Herbert W. Hoover Sr. spanning the bridge on South Main Street, entirely her brainchild and at her expense.
There was a high dive and lifeguard chair donated in the memory of Howard “Junie” McCue, who did not return from WWII; a drinking water fountain in memory of Alice Hoover Price on city hall plaza: a plaque honoring ‘Rap’ Warstler at the little league fields.
So proud of and so inspired by her life of giving are her nieces Janice Laver (Phil dec.) and Diane Stromberg (Scott), her nephews Scott (Estelle), Rick (Lisa) and Randy (Angela) DeMuesy, her great-niece Bonnie Stromberg, and her great-nephews Scott, Tim and Ricky Stromberg.
Visitation will be held from 5-7pm on Wednesday Dec. 1 at Arnold Funeral Home, 1517 North Market Ave, Canton, Ohio 44714. The family will also receive friends Thursday morning 10:30-11:00 a.m. in the North Canton Community Christian Church. The memorial service will begin at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Sarah Taylor Peck officiating. A bereavement lunch will follow the service. Family and close friends will then head to North Canton Cemetery for a short graveside service as Nan is laid to rest.
Source: Published on The Repository
