Nancy Rowe-Fidino

Nancy was born in Denver, Colorado on June 15, 1956 to Florence Elizabeth (Hurst) Rowe and Harold Lloyd (Bud) Rowe, the youngest of three sisters. As a child, Nancy played the violin and was happy, fun, creative and artistic.

Nancy died on January 18, 2016 after a long battle with cancer. She was preceded in death by her mother Florence Elizabeth (Hurst) Rowe and her father, Harold Lloyd (Bud) Rowe. Nancy is survived by her husband, Gary Fidino, three stepdaughters, Chanda Fidino, Cheniah (Keiji) Yamoto and Candice Fidino, two stepgrandchildren, Shenji and Kai, two sisters, Vicki (Claude) Pelletier and Terri Acevedo, four nieces and one nephew, and many other beloved family members and friends.

She went to Kennedy Junior-Senior High School and graduated from Denver Public Schools in 1974, then attended the University of Colorado and the University of Northern Colorado, before moving to Alaska and graduating from the University of Alaska in Anchorage. Nancy earned her masters degree in art therapy from Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

After graduation, Nancy worked in Anchorage as a clinical associate at Southcentral Counseling and at Anchorage Community Mental Health Services. After she earned her masters degree and her license for professional counseling, she worked as a mental health clinician and art therapist at ACMHS and later at Southcentral Foundation, greatly helping her clients. She was a wonderful counselor and greatly admired by her colleagues and very proud of the support she was able to give to her clients.

Nancy was a talented artist in several different media. She painted, made chalk and pencil drawings and many macrame projects and beautiful pottery. She also loved movies, music, reading, going to garage sales and photography. She recorded our lives and hers with her camera. She enjoyed nature and loved biking, hiking and camping. She loved traveling, over the years going to Mexico, Europe twice, Missouri, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Oregon, California, Washington,

New Mexico and all through Western Canada and of course all over her beautiful home states of Alaska and Colorado. She also enjoyed hosting others who journeyed to Alaska and made sure they had an unforgettable time there.

Nancy met her husband, Gary Fidino, in 1999 at a band jam in Anchorage. Gary had noticed Nancy and he worked up a strategy to position himself to meet Nancy at the entry. Gary was successful, not to mention smitten with her. Luckily, she was smitten with him also. It was love at first sight. Gary owned and operated a cabinet shop near Eagle River. They had many things in common. They enjoyed good food and walks in Alaskan forests. They remodeled their first home, a duplex located in Anchorage.

Nancy had an eye for colors and excelled at being the interior decorator, which gave her creative talents another chance to flourish. They also shared a love of pets, even adopting a dog and cat that were left behind in the other part of their duplex.

They were married in Estes Park, Colorado, on September 5, 2012.

Nancy and Gary shared a love of music. He is a musician and played keyboards and sang with a rock and roll dance band called "Anything Goes". Nancy loved traveling with the band when they played in Anchorage, Talkeetna and Palmer.

She reveled in making her friends happy and she truly was a good listener. Nancy delighted in celebrating with her many, many friends and family. She was generous to a fault and made sure everyone had a gift at Christmas and birthdays.

Nancy will be very greatly missed by her loving friends and family for her compassionate, generous and fun-loving nature and her exuberance for life.

Memorial Services will be held on Tuesday, January 26, 11:00am at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 3020 Federal Blvd in Denver, Colorado.

If desired, a donation could be made to the American Cancer Society.