Nancy Reeve Rasmussen Peregrine (obituary)

Nancy Reeve (Rasmussen) Peregrine joined the spirit world on July 3^rd, 2022 after a very rapid encounter with cancer of the biliary tract. As she wished, she was able to pass in her bed in the home she built in Whale Gulch and lived in for 52 years. She was 76 years old and was surrounded by family and friends.

Nancy was born in Berkeley, California on November 26, 1945 to Mary Alice Gianetti Rasmussen and Robert Rasmussen. Her father was a biochemist who helped determine the molecular structure of Penicillin during World War II, allowing for mass production of this critical antibiotic. She lost her father when he was 33 and she was 3. Her mother started teaching at a public school in Alameda. When Nancy was 8 her mom asked her to flip a coin to decide where they would go to live for a year – Hawaii or Mexico. It came up Mexico, so they moved to San Miguel de Allende where Nancy was the first gringa to attend the girls’ public school from age 8 to 12. Her mom joined the Art Institute and bought Nancy a horse and a donkey. “I had a wonderful life there and I totally took on the Mexican/Indian culture as my own”. These formative years in Mexico influenced Nancy in many ways. She was fluent in Spanish and she full-heartedly embraced and practiced the concept of taking care of her family, her elders, and her community.

Nancy lost her mother when she was 12 and was subsequently raised by her maternal grandmother (age 84) in Pasadena. Nancy had a strong and adventurous spirit. Her high school years included starting and writing for an underground newspaper, protesting, and “borrowing” Granny’s car to drive to the Grand Canyon.

Nancy was accepted to UC Berkeley, but after 3 months she decided she could learn more on her own. She subsequently became the smartest person most of us knew. She met Peter and they spent a year hitchhiking around the world busking (street singing) and occasionally getting arrested for it. Nancy loved to travel and she visited over 50 countries. When Nancy was pregnant with her first daughter, Anna, she traveled through Mexico and Belize on horseback. She did a deep dive into her ancestry, which included extensive research, traveling, and meeting family all over the world.

Nancy was a pioneer and homesteader. She and Peter started homesteading in Ohio while Peter was a student at Antioch College (’66-’68). They lived in a chicken coop and raised goats, chickens, and rabbits. That is where Nancy learned all of the basics of being a country woman – canning, baking, etc. In 1968 Nancy, Peter, Anna (2yrs old), and their dog, Zeek, drove the potato chip truck to Whale Gulch, California to help some friends build a tree house. They fell in love with the area and subsequently bought property in the Thompson Creek valley from Bob McKee. They lived in the potato chip truck for 2 years while they built a house. Nancy cleared the property with an axe, dug the septic system by hand, and gave birth to her second daughter, Jessica, in the potato chip truck under a bay tree. Did I mention, she had grit?

Nancy was part of the Women’s Movement before it was known as a “Movement”. For her, it was about having work parties with her women friends to tackle community projects, such as digging and constructing culverts to divert the water running over the local roads, helping each other build decks, houses, and schools. Nancy built most of her 3-story house by hand. She would travel great distances to retrieve recycled materials. Her kitchen cabinets and countertops were recycled from an old LSD factory. Everyone knew it was best to not lick her countertops.

She had a steadfast love for animals, the forest, and wild places. She was part of the Sinkyone Seven- a group of seven women who were arrested while protecting the redwoods in the Sally Bell Grove on the Lost Coast.  Over the years, she was involved in many community initiatives to protect and restore the forests and rivers of the precious North Coast.

She led the collaboration and creation of a Billabong on her property – a pond within a stream, which allows young salmon to grow in Thompson Creek, a major tributary to the headwaters of the Mattole River. She regularly helped with salmon counting on the river and was a docent for Sanctuary Forest leading hikes in the Sinkyone Wilderness teaching about native medicinal plants. Nancy purchased and trained 8 llamas and created Lost Coast Llama Caravans. For 10 years she provided commercial wilderness pack trips with her llamas in the King Range and Sinkyone wilderness. She built horse stables on her property where many different animals were boarders. She raised and cared for many animals who were her extended family including horses, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, peacocks, cats, and dogs. A huge wild bull elk she had named Ferdinand lived on her property for years.

Nancy was involved in firefighting since the early ‘70s. Throughout her life she contributed approximately 49 years of service to her community as a firefighter. In addition to direct fire fighting she wore many hats including medical aid, communications, grant writing, training, and coordinating. She was involved in starting the Whale Gulch Volunteer Fire Company. She started by gathering planks and building a “fire shack” for tools. She found broken tools and fixed the handles.  She was the chief for many years and an active member until the last few years of her life.  Nancy was often first on scene so she turned her Toyota 4-Runner into a mini fire engine; equipped with medical equipment, a back board, oxygen, as well as a 50 gallon water tank, a pump, and a few hundred feet of fire house.  She was always prepared for an emergency. She was a first responder, an EMT, and was a CPR instructor through the Garberville Hospital. She was a Ham radio operator (KB6LAD) and secretary of the Southern Humboldt Amateur Radio Club.

Nancy was a natural teacher. She taught Spanish, Math, and Herbs at Whale Gulch School for many years. She taught at the Northern California Women’s Herbal Symposium for over 20 years. She often was invited to be a guest speaker at local health organizations.

She followed her love for learning and went back to school in her 50s. She enrolled in a 2 year holistic nutrition program at Bauman College in Cotati and diligently drove over 300 miles each month to complete her studies. She followed that with 2 years of studying with the California College of Natural Medicine and became a board certified Naturopath as well as a registered herbalist through the American Herbalist Guild. She loved being a “health detective” helping people figure out the underlying issues affecting their health. For 24 years she provided her services as a holistic nutrition consultant, traditional naturopath and registered herbalist. She loved providing these services to the community and was particularly grateful to Chautauqua Natural Foods in Garberville for allowing her skills to be shared with the community. She was often able to help people who had complex health issues that were not solved by allopathic medicine.

Nancy loved exploring other cultures through dance. She studied Flamenco for many years. Then Folk Dance, Belly dance, African dance, Morris Dance, and Irish Country Dance.

She was a remarkable woman, one of a kind. A true community treasure with the kindest heart and the bravest spirit.

Nancy modeled authentic compassion, kindness, and caring every day. Always willing to help someone in need, no matter the time of day or night. Her intellect, wisdom, and friendship were a treasure to us all.

May memories of her joyous laughter spark kindness in all of us.

Nancy will always be a shining light.