Nancy Joy Katich

Boise, Idaho — Nancy Joy Katich, a devoted mother, cherished wife, and woman of extraordinary faith, passed away on Saturday, November 15, 2025, surrounded by her loved ones. She was 73 years old. Her passing was quick and peaceful, marking the close of a life generously lived.

Nancy was born on April 3, 1952, in Pasadena, CA, the fourth daughter of Eldon (Barr) and Marcelle Shurtleff. She was a joyous addition to the family, providing her older sisters, Marianne, Barbara, and Loretta, the opportunity to help raise and guide her. Thoughtful and shy, Nancy loved animals from a very early age, dedicating much of her youth to horse husbandry in Santa Barbara’s idyllic hills.

Following high school, she joined her sister Barbara in the Bay Area, where she was soon introduced to William “Bud” Katich, an Oakland-born designer and builder who quickly swept her off her feet. They married on January 10th, 1971, beginning a beautiful partnership that would last 54 years.

Their early family life was full of adventure. After their first child, Jeanette (Jeni), was born in Oakland in 1973, the young family moved to a rural commune located at a storied hot springs resort in Central California. There, they raised chickens and goats and constructed their makeshift ranch out of recycled materials. In 1975, they picked up and headed north to Idaho, settling in a little farmhouse in Meridian as Bud busied himself in the booming building industry. Their second child, Chase, was born in 1976, and Nancy went about creating a warm, self-sufficient life centered around raising their two young children and a lively menagerie of farm animals.

The family moved closer into Boise proper, landing in the Windstead Park neighborhood, in 1980, the same year that their youngest child, Jeremy, was born. Finding that they had more room in their home and hearts, the family expanded again in 1982 by way of foster care, lovingly welcoming twin sisters Rosalie and Rosemarie, and their younger brother Victor (Ivar), making it a complete and happy Katich clan of six children.

Nancy enjoyed a lifelong love of learning and had a conscientious, detail-oriented mind – gifts she applied both to the management of her large household and to a successful professional career. For decades, she served as a trusted paralegal and helped run a thriving estate planning practice in downtown Boise. Her intellectual curiosity fueled her passions: she was an avid reader, found joy in classical music (including playing the piano), took up oil painting, and cultivated extensive vegetable gardens with a gifted green thumb. Above all else, her boundless capacity for nurturing extended to mentoring countless young people in her orbit, and role-modeling love, humility, and generosity through every aspect of her life.

Nancy's spirituality was rooted in scripture, where she found deep resonance and cultivated a profound personal connection to her Heavenly Father. She was highly active with a local assembly of like-minded believers, dedicating herself to intense study and acts of service – eventually earning advanced degrees from their scripture college. Her ministry was all-pervasive, manifesting itself in many forms: from leading local Bible studies at retirement homes, to serving on extended international missions to Peru and Belgium.

In 2010, Nancy was diagnosed with Castleman’s disease. She defied the odds of the typically terminal disease and became a successful test case for a trial medication that eventually put her symptoms into full remission. She enjoyed years of mostly pain-free living, spending time at their property in Cascade, ID, and volunteering for the Garden City Public Library and Meals on Wheels. She continued to travel extensively with her husband and was always planning the next family reunion, often while a family reunion was taking place. She loved all her family and friends, but perhaps most of all her three grandchildren, Emily, Connor, and Leilani, who likewise adored their "Granny".

Nancy brought so much love and kindness to this world and to everyone who was fortunate enough to have known her. She will be missed every day, but will live on in spirit and memory, continuing to inspire by the way she lived. She is now safely and peacefully with her Father and all the friends and family who preceded her.

Survivors

Nancy is survived by her beloved husband of 54 years, William (Bud) Katich; her children, Jeanette (Jeni) Coyne, Chase Katich, Ivar Katich, Jeremy Katich, and their spouses. She also leaves behind her three adoring sisters, Marianne Baird, Barbara and husband Abbas Bazeghi, and Loretta Lindstrom; sister-in-law Cheri Lieber, and finally, her three cherished grandchildren, Emily, Connor, and Leilani. Additionally, her extended family includes nephews, nieces and cousins spread across the country.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Eldon (Barr) and Marcelle Shurleff, and by her brothers-in-law Alan Lindstrom and Robert Lieber.

Service Details

Per her wishes, an intimate gathering to celebrate her life and spread her remains in the Central Idaho mountains that she loved so dearly will be held in the near future. The family kindly requests that this remain a private ceremony.

A memorial plaque will be laid at the Shurtleff family plot in Morris Hill Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network, whose exceptional work is focused on finding cures to this and other little understood autoimmune diseases.