Funeral services for Eleanor Nancy Hecht, age 90, of Tilden, Nebraska were held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Tilden. Reverend John Norman was the celebrant, with burial in St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Tilden.
Visitation was Monday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Brockhaus-Harlan Funeral Home in Tilden and and continue at the church with a 7:00 p.m. Wake Service.
Nancy died Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at Community Pride Care Center in Battle Creek, Nebraska.
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Eleanor Nancy Hecht was born June 16, 1935, in Waterloo, Iowa, to Clarence John and Anne Hudson (Merrifield) Forge. She was the fourth of seven children.
The siblings were very close after experiencing the tragic loss of their mother to cancer when Nancy was ten, and shortly after the loss of their older sister Marian to cancer. The family lived in Des Moines, Iowa, and Nancy attended St. John’s Catholic School through junior high.
The family moved to Omaha in 1950, and Nancy graduated from Omaha North High School in 1953. While her father wanted her to start working, her stepmother intervened, stating, “If the boys can go to college, then Nancy will go to college.” Because her younger sister had just joined the convent in Kentucky, it was decided that Nancy would attend Ursuline College in Louisville, Kentucky, to be close to her sister, Louise. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics and came to Tilden High School in the fall of 1957 to teach math and science. There she lived with fellow teacher, Patty Anderson Van Ert, and the two became lifelong friends. They even became linked through family when Patty married Jim Van Ert and Nancy married Frank Hecht, who were cousins.
In 1959, Nancy moved to Kansas City to work for AT&T as an engineer’s assistant. Frank proposed shortly thereafter, and on June 25, 1960, she married Frank J. Hecht of Tilden at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church in Omaha. To this union, eight children were born: Lisa, Mark, Paul, Anne, Emily, John, Sarah, and Kathleen. The couple resided southwest of Tilden on the family farm, and Nancy devoted her time as a farmwife and mother. She was involved in Our Lady of Mt Carmel Catholic Church, serving on the Parish Council, Altar Society, and teaching CCD.
She was a kind soul and made lifelong friends through her volunteer work. Nancy was always a champion for the underdog, a great listener, and held a wealth of solid advice. She also taught at Elkhorn Valley Schools in the late 1960s, Orchard Schools in the mid-1960s, and was an aide at District 14, south of Tilden, in the 1990s.
The couple divorced in 1992 but remained friendly. In 1994, Nancy moved to Prescott, Arizona, to live with her sister, Carol.
She returned to Norfolk in 1995 to enjoy retirement.
Nancy was an avid reader throughout her entire life; her family estimates that she has read over 5,000 books in her lifetime. In later years, she enjoyed bingo and cards. In February 2014, she entered Prairie View Assisted Living in Tilden.
In 2017, she relocated to the Community Pride Care Center in Battle Creek, where she resided until her death. There, the family, including grandkids, would hold epic Texas Hold ‘em tournaments until well past her bedtime. Family gathering was a great joy in her life.
She is survived by her children, Lisa (Paul) Mettler of Chicago, Mark (Mary) Hecht of Tilden, Anne (Jim) Meis of Elgin, Emily (Merle) Borer of Elgin, John (Stacy) Hecht of Roca, and Kathleen (Scott) Margheim of Columbus; 13 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren and one on the way; one sister-in-law, Delores Forge of Denver; and many nieces and nephews.
Nancy was preceded in death by her parents; stepmother, Elizabeth Nitz Forge; her son, Paul in 2024; her daughter, Sarah in infancy; the father of her children, Frank J. Hecht; brothers, David and Clarence John Jr. “Jack”; sisters, Marian, Marge, Carol, and Louise; in-laws, Dick and Marian (Hecht) Wisch and Marvin and Agnes (Hecht) Renner; and many other relatives and friends.
