Nancy Loo Bjorge
Share
Nancy Loo Bjorge, age 83, of Lawrence, KS, passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 5, 2023, at the University of Kansas Hospital following a valiant struggle against a rare, incurable JC virus brain infection. She was born on December 29, 1939, to Yung Tsung and Cecilia Loo in Shanghai, China, which at the time was under Japanese occupation during the Second World War.
In 1946 Nancy’s family moved to the British colony of Hong Kong where she received her elementary and secondary education. Following graduation from high school, Nancy came to the United States to pursue further education. In 1966 she received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics, with minors in physics and chemistry, from the University of Illinois. Then, as the result of a drawing class she took her junior year that put her in touch with her inner creativity, she enrolled at Eastern Michigan University and studied for the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, which she received in 1967. In the fall of 1967, she enrolled as a graduate student in the art metal program in the University of Wisconsin-Madison art department. There she met her future husband, Gary Bjorge, who was entering graduate school after completing five years of active duty in the U.S. Navy. They were married in Madison on August 19, 1968.
Following her marriage, Nancy adjusted her education path to pursue a Master of Arts in art education and certification to teach art in Wisconsin schools. In the fall of 1969 she began teaching K-12 art in Waterloo, WI, near Madison, while her husband continued his graduate studies. After two years of teaching she went back to school to earn her Master of Fine Arts degree in art metal, which she received in 1972. On November 8, 1972, she became a naturalized United States citizen.
Nancy’s first child, Benjamin Bruce, was born on July 3, 1974. On December 7, 1976, she gave birth to her daughter, Joanne Marie. In 1980 she and her family moved from Madison to Lawrence, Kansas, when her husband took a job at the University of Kansas. Nancy was very active in the Lawrence community. She continued the work in real estate she had begun in Madison, becoming a realtor with the Gill Agency. From 1981 to 1983 she and Phil Harrison of the Gill Agency hosted a Chinese cooking show on the local cable channel six. She also taught Chinese cooking classes in the evening at Lawrence High School. Looking at the wide variety of cultures present in Lawrence she brought many people together to create a nonprofit organization called the Celebration of Cultures that held multicultural festivals at the Douglas County Fairgrounds and in downtown Lawrence. She served on the boards of the Douglas County Red Cross, the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, KU’s anthropology museum, and Kansas International. In 1993 she received a Lawrence Leadership Award. She was a long-time member of the Lawrence Rotary Club and the Lawrence Sister Cities organization. She was also a successful realtor, first with the Gill Agency and later with the McGrew Agency.
Nancy was energetic, enjoyed interacting with people, and was very good at organizing. An example of this last talent was her receiving “The Most Organized” award for 1994 from the Gill Agency. But her greatest passion was creating works of art. After her sister suffered a severe stroke, she decided to focus more energy on art. Remembering how much she enjoyed folding paper as a child, she began experimenting with folding paper and other materials. She joined OrigamiUSA, the American national society devoted to origami, the art of paperfolding, and for over a decade traveled to New York City every summer to attend the organization’s annual convention. Her “paper quilts,” as she called them, artistic works made by placing folded pieces of paper of different shapes and colors together in geometric patterns, were always greatly admired at the convention’s origami exhibition. Her beautiful works of art were exhibited in many places, including Lawrence, Manhattan, and Kansas City in Kansas; San Francisco; Eutin, Germany; and Moscow, Russia.
Nancy was preceded in death by her beloved son Benjamin, who was struck and killed by a car while walking home from his second grade class at Sunset Hill School; her parents; her older brother Billy; and her younger sister Katherine. She is survived by her husband, her daughter Joanne (Charlie), her granddaughter Cecilia, and three brothers, Adi (Reiko), Walter, and Allan (Ying Ying). She will be deeply missed by those who knew her kind and loving heart and were inspired by her creative mind. A celebration of her life will be held at the Lawrence United Methodist Church , Vermont and 10th Street, at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, February 11th. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the hospice/palliative care program at the Kansas University Hospital, a program filled with wonderful people who gave Nancy and her family truly compassionate care when it was needed most, or the First United Methodist Church, Lawrence, Kansas.
Gary, Joanne and family-
I am deeply saddened by Nancy’s passing. I have so many fond memories with your family when we lived on Randall Road. I had forgotten about her cooking classes on local cable until just reading it again. All this time I knew a local celebrity! I hope you remain comforted by the many fond memories made with Nancy over her rich lifetime.
My thoughts and prayers are with you now and always.
Please accept our condolences. May she Rest In Peace.
May Nancy be peaceful….
May we all be peaceful….
Adi and Reiko Loo.
A beautiful life of humility and purpose.
I enjoyed my years of interaction with Nancy as a colleague in the LBOR. My condolences to all who mourn.
Peace forward.
Thoughts and prayers for the Borge family.
I knew Benjamin and Joanne as very special students at Sunset Hill.
May the Lord wrap His loving arms around the family and give them peace.
Karen Heeb
Nancy and I were so close to each others via email, and weekly paper mail for the last eight years, sharing ideas on art, health, nutrition science and lifestyle, even as we were thousands of miles apart. I shall always cherish the precious moments which we enjoyed hours of chatting with each others, as the closest brother-and-sister during our golden years … I pray and look forward to that we will be brother-and-sister again into our future journey, in yet another beautiful world. Our children (Arthur and Adam) and wife Ying are blessed by your unconditional love and caring. We will be family again. We shall carry your love and smile in our hearts. Be Peaceful.
Nancy will be missed by many. I enjoyed working with her at McGrew Real Estate. She was always willing to share her Asian cultural and cooking skills with many. She was a very talented person. Sending my thoughts and prayers to the entire family.
Oh, Gary, I am so sorry for this loss of Nancy here with you! I have so many fond memories of our years as friends together. I’m thinking of you with much sympathy and caring!
Judy Niebaum
Nancy was a wonderful community member that helped and made Lawrence a better place. She shared her culture and talents at several festivals. Always willing to be an awesome guest speaker in the classroom!
We want to express our deepest sympathy to the family of Nancy. My family really thought a lot of her. She helped my wife and I find our first home. She spent a lot of time and effort with us. We will always miss her so much. She was an outstanding lady. Our hearts go out to all of the family.
Thomas and Letecia Hodgson
I am so sorry to hear that Nancy passed away. I have know Nancy for many years, mainly through Rotary. I was part of a fund raising committee and we wanted special invitations. Nancy graciously offered to teach us how to make the folder paper invitations that were fun to make and very special to the people we invited. My prayers are with your family.
Jane Bateman
Nancy was always positive about whatever she did in life.
Both my Mother Carolyn and I worked on several transactions with her in Real Estate and she was always the professional.
She will be missed as a credit to profession and the Community she was so active in.
Rest in peace Nancy
Dear Gary & Family, we extend our deepest sympathies for your loss of Nancy. Although we didn’t have the pleasure of knowing her, it’s very apparent that she was loved and appreciated by so many people, and that she helped make our community a better place to live. We need more people like Nancy! Steve & Karla Menaugh
We knew Nancy from two visits with them years ago in Wisconsin, when both families lived there in towns about a hundred miles apart. Gary and I went to high school together–and I saw him and Nancy a few times over the years at HS school reunions. We, both couples, kept in touch by mail, particularly Xmas letters. She would send us notices of her artistic works and announcements of shows or exhibits. All very impressive, particularly to Gail who was an art major.
Nancy lived her long life extremely well, productively and creatively, despite tragic loss, and then major medical problems and a recent injury contributed to disabling, and eventually death. She was intelligent, polite, soft spoken, very talented in a number of artistic media, while involved in business and community organizations, and was fluent in two (and maybe more) languages–a loss to the community at large and particularly, of course, to Gary and their daughter Joanne.
May she rest in peace.
Consolation and also peace, to Gary and Joanne.
Gary and family,
FAPA Kansas chapter has the honor to have your participation and friendship. We are saddened by Nancy’s passing. Our condolences to the family. Take care.
Greatly saddened by the news of Nancy’s passing. I was in the same class as Nancy in our high school in Hong Kong, and was on that reunion trip in 2005 where I also met your daughter Joanne. That Nancy and Joanne brought Katherine , in her wheelchair, to that reunion spoke volumes about their tight family values, and I was very moved. May all the memories of Nancy’s rich life sustain you in your grief.