Nancy E. McDonough

   With heavy hearts we announce the passing of our beloved Mom, Wife, Ma, Grandma, GG, sister, aunt, cousin and friend, Nancy McDonough, 82. She passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 13th with loved ones by her side.  A visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at the Wallace Family Funeral Home and Crematory in Newton.

   Nancy was born on May 1st, 1944, in Burlington, Vermont to Harry and Roberta (Thompson) Bonnette. She was the oldest of three children. She loved being their big sister. She graduated High School in 1962 and attended Champlain Valley College, where she got her secretarial degree. She graduated in 1964 and moved to Boston where she worked and met Jim Goodrich who was stationed in the Navy there. They were married in the fall of 1965 and moved to Jim’s home state of Iowa. They had two daughters, Julie and Gail. 

   After her sister graduated college, she followed Nancy to Iowa, and several years later got married. Nancy loved having her sister near her again, which also allowed her to watch her nieces, Sara, Jillian and Kaitlynn, be born and grow up. Nancy was a single mom for many years. She and her girls would go stay with her sister’s family nearly every weekend. She worked as a school secretary, allowing her and her girls to spend their summers in Vermont with her parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, whom she loved dearly. She loved visiting the family farm, seeing the mountains, splashing in the waterfalls, and sharing her love for Vermont with the girls. 

   Nancy started attending the Parents Without Partners group and soon met Ralph. She was having transmission problems, and he offered to take a look at her car. Their relationship grew from there, and in August of 1983, she married Ralph McDonough and gained two sons, Jeff and Brian. The couple built a home and made a life in Newton and were married for 43 years. After moving to Newton, she worked at Pearson Drug on the Square for 12 years. Her job there was always full of laughter, and her co-workers were great friends. She gained two of her lifelong friends there, Don Avise and Laurie Moffit. 

   After retirement, they enjoyed spending half of the year in Mesa, AZ. Nancy enjoyed the sunshine and loved looking at all the saguaro cacti and the superstition mountains. They enjoyed it when their kids and grandkids came to visit them, and cherished the memories made. They visited Nancy’s Vermont family, and her old boss Don Avise, who also spent their winters in AZ. They met many new friends while living in AZ and retained old ones from Iowa after joining the Iowa breakfast group. Nancy was able to continue enjoying her hobbies and joined the Sunland Stitchers quilting club there. 

   While growing up in Waitsfield, VT, she enjoyed being active in 4-H, exceling in sewing and cooking, which gave her the skills to sew her and her daughters’ clothing for many years. This included all the dresses for her wedding, and her daughter Julie’s wedding. She also loved to cross-stitch and made dozens of wedding/birth samplers for family and friends over the years. Another hobby centered around her love of sewing was quilting, which she enjoyed doing with her sister Necia. She also loved gardening, canning and growing flowers. She loved to scrapbook and always had her family photo albums caught up to the current date. She also loved genealogy and tracing her New England roots. 

   Her greatest joy, though, was her five grandchildren. She attended all the birthday parties and events that she was physically able. She even learned to text at almost 70 years old in order to keep up with them and to receive photos/videos from them. Her newest joy was her 2-year-old Great-Grandson Theodore. They facetimed weekly and he would yell for GG to clap for him while he jumped off the couch into a pile of pillows. She would also tell him daily when the train was going by her room’s window at Newton Village and he would yell choo-choo back to her. She will continue to look over her grandchildren and is now their guardian angel. 

   Nancy’s family would like to thank the staff at Newton Village, who cared for her like their own mother for over 5 years, and who she loved dearly. We are so thankful that the staff made her laugh and always knew how to make her day brighter. They would also like to thank the dietary department for making meatloaf every week, because that was her favorite meal. Thank you to housekeeping for always being a friend and doing her laundry just how she liked it. Lastly, thank you to the activities department at Newton Village for bringing her so much joy in her final years – especially going to bingo. Thank you to Anna Sciarrotta at Wesley Life Hospice for keeping her comfortable and helping guide our family through difficult times. 

   Those left to honor her memory are her husband Ralph; her children Julie (Rich) Richtsmeier of Newton, Gail Randell ( Tom Zohlen) of Alexandria, VA, Jeff McDonough of Waukee, Brian (Kami) McDonough of Maxwell; her grandchildren Amanda (Collin) Reynolds of Grand Rapids, MI, Derek (Halley) Richtsmeier of Baxter, Ellie McDonough of Maxwell, Morgan McDonough of Waukee, Riley McDonough of Waukee; her great-grandson Theodore Reynolds; her sister Necia (Forrest) LeMoine of The Villages, FL; her brother Norman Bonnette of Waco, KY; all of her brother and sisters-in-law Jay (Deb) McDonough of Huntsville, MO, Eileen (Jerry) Schima of Hazelton, Ann McDonough of Bluffton, SC, Chris McDonough of Moravia, Randy (Lindey) McDonough of Apache Junction, AZ, Paulette McDonough of Coon Rapids; her two special neighbors, Kathy Brown and Cheryl Ness; Hannah Kingery, who she loved like a granddaughter; and her many nieces, nephews and cousins. 

   Those preceding her in death include her parents; her in-laws, Jack and Norma McDonough; her brothers in law John Massey, Ted McDonough, Bruce McDonough, Syd Guffey; and sister-in-law Louise Bonnette. 

   Even though she was diagnosed with MS in 2007 and it took so much away from her, she tried to live each day with a joyful heart and to be thankful for what she did have. The last 5.5 years of her life living at Newton Village, she was able to participate in the resident activities and gain some hobbies back. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Julie Richtsmeier to go towards needs in the activities department at Newton Village. Memorials can be left at the funeral home.

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