Obituary of Nancy Leona Linville van Gass

On Thursday, September 15, 2022 Heaven gained another angel. Our beautiful mother, wife, sister,ouma,aunt and so much more passed away peacefully after having long term health issues. She was 75 years old young. She has requested no funeral or service during this time so we wanted to let the world know what an amazing person she was so that she will know we are not letting her go in silence. We wanted to shout to the rooftop and the top of the mountains about this amazing angel. Nancy Leona Linville was born to Ralph and Hazel (Sawyer) Linville on June 23, 1947 in Solano, California. She grew up with 2 amazing brothers Richard and Raymond and her father remarried and blessed her with another brother, Phillip. She loved her brothers dearly and they meant the world to her. As a child she was adventurous and loved the outdoors. She would go to Mount Shasta with her brothers and cousins and camp out and she loved to waterski. She would do all sorts of tricks and loved being out on the water. In 1970 she had a daughter, Shylo. Together they faced the world in California and then in 1975 she moved to Brigham City, Utah to live with her stepmom Valoy and brother. They formed an inseparable bond, as her father had passed away in 1973. Due to Valoy’s influence Nancy joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in the early 70’s. Nancy and Shylo lived with Valoy until she met her love Ed van Gass. When they first met it was not a love at first sight situation, in fact she did not like him. They had a love/hate long distance relationship as he went back to his home country South Africa. After a short long distance relationship they got engaged and Ed came back to the States and they got married on August 12, 1978. She was so excited when he proposed to her over the phone that she was jumping around and ended up spraining her ankle from falling down. Within a year, they were joined with Helinfield and they were all able to be sealed in the Salt Lake temple after Ed adopted Shylo. They got sealed August 12, 1979. Then in March LeGrand joined the family. As a family we moved multiple times, but we always had each other. In 1982 the family moved to South Africa for Ed to pursue his music/military career. During the three years there they were blessed with another son, JG. During our time in South Africa we lived in Johannesburg and Durban. We moved back to the States in 1985 and moved to Salt Lake CIty. Nancy’s favorite calling in church was either Nursery or Cub Scouts. She loved interacting with kids of ALL ages. Over the years they have lived in several cities, states and countries. She was so proud to be called an “Ouma”, it was her favorite calling in life. She has 12 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. Nancy loved to bake cookies and treats. Many a Sunday evening you could find her feeding Phil and his friends a yummy dessert. She loved to sew and created many dresses and outfits. She passed the love of sewing and crafts down to Shylo. Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, Ralph, Hazel and Valoy. She is survived by her husband of 46 years, Ed van Gass. Surviving children: Shylo (Duane) Wheeler, North Ogden, Utah, Helinfield (Ed) Hanecak, Orlando, Florida, LeGrand (Liberti) van Gass, Grace, Idaho and JG (Heather McClellan) van Gass, Springfield, Oregon. 12 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. Nancy is leaving behind a legacy of love and kindness. Even though she did not want much fuss made over her when she was alive and in death, we want to let the world know that there is now a big whole in this world because she is not here. She will always be worth the fuss and the love we give her in this time of our loss. In lieu of flowers and gifts, please take a second and leave a comment about how you knew our mother, wife, sister, ouma and friend. All your love and support throughout her amazing life has definitely had an impact on her and our family.