Nancy Emilie Strand (Kahlich) of Chicago, IL died early Saturday morning, October 17, 2009 while traveling in Key Largo, Florida. Beloved mother, aunt, grandmother, friend, neighbor and dedicated traveler on journeys large and small, Nancy was born September 24, 1942 in Chicago, IL and raised in Williams Bay, WI. She was the well-known daughter of the local milkman, a circumstance about which she cracked frequent racy jokes. She attended college in Lawrence, Kansas and spent a year abroad studying in Gothenburg, Sweden where she danced with the Crown Prince of Sweden, played practical jokes on unsuspecting Swedes with her best friend Nico, connected with her cousins and where, for the rest of her life, she kept her heart’s true home. In Gothenburg she met Hubert Kahlich, whom she married and divorced twice, and with whom in the interim she had four children and raised them along with 9 dogs, two cats, several fish, a couple of lizards and parakeet or two. She is responsible for introducing 3/4s of her children to the delights of sushi, supplementing all of their educations with trips to the Art Institute, CSO, Lyric Opera, innumerable spontaneous history and civics lessons, and good manners. Her love of history, genealogy and her Swedish heritage led to archiving and curator careers at the Swedish American Historical Society, the Barrington Area Historical Society, the Swedish American Museum, and the Rogers Park Society. She was Patron Saint of historic villages, museums of all kinds, Ravinia Park, Peanut M&Ms, strong black coffee, licorice and Ikea. In later years she lived and worked in, and fiercely loved, the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, founding the Chase Avenue Porch Consortium, loving unlovable dogs and opening her home to holiday orphans. She greatly enjoyed trips West to visit her nieces and nephews, daughter and sons, and eating Gummi worms with her grandson Calvin. Apart from the accomplishments of her children in every definition, few things in life made her happier than a Swedish-made car, a full tank of gas and an unreliable map.
She is predeceased by her parents, Paul and Frieda Strand, brother Peter Strand, sister Linda Strand Fortune, and her first grandson, Joseph Kahlich. She is survived by her brother and dearest friend David, her cherished children Steven Kahlich, Susanne Kahlich, Michael Kahlich and Jason Kahlich; her adored daughters in law, Natasha Glushkoff and Dana Mudd; and her utmost joys, grandchildren Calvin Kahlich, Melisande Kahlich and Lorelei Kahlich. She is also survived by much loved nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews, cousins, second cousins, first- and second- cousins once removed, twice removed indeed several times removed but never removed from her heart; and neighbors, friends, lovers and countrymen too numerous to list here. Her heart seemed to be made of elastic yet had the curious quality of never contracting; her generous and warm embrace will be honored by a lakeside ceremony on Jarvis Beach at 4:00pm on November 7 in Chicago. All those whose lives she touched are welcome.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. --Robert Frost
