Nancy J. Major Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Nancy passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Nancy was born in Iron Mountain, MI, the daughter of Gladys and William D. Cochran (captain of the 1915 UM football team). After graduating from Iron Mountain High School in 1945, she came to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan, studying English and Botany. She spent her first year as a student in Mrs. Reeve’s boarding house, a memory she treasured, after which she became a Delta Gamma. After graduation, she married Louis Major, Jr. to whom she was married for 28 years. They moved to South Bend, Indiana, where two daughters, Marcia and Susan, were born. She was an active member of the Junior League through which she expressed her love of historic preservation by working on the restoration of the former Studebaker mansion, Tippecanoe Place, and her interest in art through work with the South Bend Art Center. She had a career for many years as a Realtor in South Bend, while at the same time starting a neighborhood restaurant. In 1981, she moved back to “dear Ann Arbor town” where she worked for American Title Co. After retirement Nancy became a founding member of Learning in Retirement, now OLLI. She hosted its opera group for 18 years during which time they became like family. She also gave her abundant energy to the OLLI painting, travel, short story and Gallery 55 groups. Nancy loved international travel, taking her daughters on many always exciting trips and hosting International Neighbors for over a decade. Nancy’s interests were many: antiques, painting, decorating, and gardening. She was a wonderful cook and loved to entertain. She had a quick wit and great sense of humor. Most of all she was a wonderful mother to her daughters, Marcia Major (Bill Burnham), Susan Major, granddaughters Whitney McGoram (Andrew McGoram), Victoria Gottschlich (Nick Gottschlich), great-grand sons Lennox and Callan McGoram, and to her extended family around the world Bharat and Sheela Patel, Olga and Helen Danilenko, Jan Allen and Bill Helfer. No service will be held at this time. Memorials can be sent to: www.olli-umich.org.

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Nancy J. Major

February 26, 1928 - June 2, 2020