Obituary of Nancy J. Rubio
Nancy Jo-Anne Rubio was born in Pennsboro, West Virginia on March 14, 1931, the first of many Pi (π) days affirming her life-long love of teaching mathematics and the pleasures of a slice of good pie. The daughter of Naomi and Louis Voll Junior, Nancy loved music, dancing, travels, and most of all adventures with her family and friends.
As a graduate of Fairmount University, she dedicated her professional life to teaching math and Spanish to middle schoolers in Woodbridge Township motivating her Basic Skills and Honors students to greater heights through praise and caring, chocolate bars, and a genuine love for learning. In support of her beloved profession, she was a long-standing delegate to the New Jersey Education Association.
A spirited girl from the mountains of West Virginia, she preferred life to be caliente. She loved spicy food; her amour, Victor Manuel Rubio, dancing to Latin music at the nightclubs of Miami before the rest of the world discovered South Beach, sunny days at the beach, music filled nights at her winter home in Naples, Florida, and traveling the world with her family and friends from Paris to Sydney to Bogota to Alaska and everywhere in between.
Daughter, big sister to Bigger Uncle Fred, honorary sister to our dear Aunt Lorraine, cousin, sorority sister, aunt, mother, grandmother, and loyal friend… she intensely loved and was dedicated to all she knew, making whoever she was with feel loved and special.
Nancy doted on her four grandchildren, Michael, Ryan, Spencer, and Eliana. They were each her favorite. “Grandmother, Grandma, Gigi” treasured her grandchildren creating memories they will carry forever. Exploring museums and flea markets in Switzerland with Michael, all the while dodging streetcars along their quests; searching for baby alligators on an airboat in the Bayou with Ryan, enjoying a table full of desserts at Commander’s Palace, discussing Grandma’s royal background, joking, and rooting for their favorite football teams especially Nancy’s West Virginia University Mountaineers; writing Haiku with Spencer, looking for wildlife in the Great Swamp, sharing silly jokes, and taking strolls and rolls around the block; and playing card games of War with her “little squirt”, Eliana; joking and pinching bottoms, gazing at the sunset hand in hand at the Naples Pier, and dancing along in her seat while she watched her little star perform.
In the minutes before dawn on Sunday, July 17, 2022, at the age of 91, Nancy listened to her last songs, danced her last dance, and held her last embrace at her family home in Warren, New Jersey. She was sent off with love to her next adventures by her daughters, Pamela and Amanda to join her loved ones: her husband, Victor, her Mom and Dad, and her brother, Fred.
So, alligator, we’ll see you later or maybe sooner.
Te quiero, mamá. We miss you.
A visitation will be held on Saturday, July 23, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., at Higgins Home for Funerals, 752 Mountain Blvd., Watchung, NJ. A chapel service will follow and be held at 11:30 a.m. at Holy Cross Cemetery, 145 Mt. Airy Rd., Basking Ridge, NJ.
Friends and family are invited to attend any funeral services as they are able.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Nancy's memory to the Fairmont State Foundation (https://www.fsufoundation.org), where Nancy received her bachelor's degree.
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Family Reflections
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Gigi
My grandma
by Eliana
You are caring and funny
Make me smile and laugh
You’re so fun to be around
My favorite grandma ever.
I love you more than anything
Unlimited wealth, fame, or dogs.
Laugh after laugh
Joke after joke
Don’t forget our card games of
war
or that I love you more.
Relaxing in Naples
Watching the sunset unroll
Dolphins fly through the water.
Or just sitting at home,
laughing and talking
I love you Gigi.
Like the bonds that hold the sky above
Nothing will ever happen to our love
No matter WHAT happens.
The sky falls in,
the oceans dry out,
the sun stops shining upon us,
I still love you.
Because after all,
I am your little squirt.
So, alligator, I’ll see you later,
Or maybe even sooner.
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With Love from Ryan
Grandma didn't always laugh, but when she did, it lit up a room.
I'd like to think her sense of humor ran in the family. She adored Ocean City, Maryland. And the ocean won't be the same without her. The smell of caramel corn and the whizz of the merry-go-round just doesn't have the same luster and pizazz it did with grandmother by our side.
Grandmother always made time for you, even in the toughest of times. I can recall a day when there was a blizzard out at the middle school, and she still walked over to the school to get me under those conditions when I was stuck. This was the type of tough, loyal, and loving person she was.
I know you are up there in heaven grandma watching over all of us. You will be missed dearly.
Love,
Ryan
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Adventures and Silliness with Spencer
Remembering as a child, Grandma would always take us out on adventures to nature preserves, I remember most being taken to the great swamp and being mystified by all the plants and creatures, my favorite being frogs. Even being taken out to eat seemed like an adventure taking us to her favorite local Mexican restaurants full of cultural objects and dishes, eating the tortilla chips as the finest of delicacies these things became a ritual with grandma it was expected to go out about when you were with her. Even when it came to the holidays, she and her house gathered everyone together, and her gift-giving was always an adventure scattered through easter egg and scavenger hunts around the house for classics like socks, underwear, candy, and money. Later in life, we grew close and shared the same experiences in a new way. I tried to repay her trips to the swamp by taking her out to parks around the state, this time at a slower, more appreciative pace, sometimes a walk around the block or hours on the back porch we’d watch the birds and squirrels. We still bonded over food, learning about our shared love of chocolate, ice cream, pizza, burritos, and all sorts. It was so much fun listening and dancing to music. I could bring any topic up with grandma, mostly pure silliness but serious concerns, showing her my artwork, or any questions, she’d always be available to listen, and no matter how the discussion went, we always ended in laughter. I’m really gonna miss how silly I could be with her and the time we both sat and enjoyed the outdoors and each other company.
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Grandma sitting in
Florida sun, birds nesting,
white gardenia scent
