Nancy Bjorge Obituary

Nancy Loo Bjorge, age 83, of Lawrence, KS, passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 5, 2023, at the University of Kansas Hospital following a valiant struggle against a rare, incurable JC virus brain infection. She was born on December 29, 1939, to Yung Tsung and Cecilia Loo in Shanghai, China, which at the time was under Japanese occupation during the Second World War.

In 1946 Nancy's family moved to the British colony of Hong Kong where she received her elementary and secondary education. Following graduation from high school, Nancy came to the United States to pursue further education. In 1966 she received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics, with minors in physics and chemistry, from the University of Illinois. Then, as the result of a drawing class she took her junior year that put her in touch with her inner creativity, she enrolled at Eastern Michigan University and studied for the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, which she received in 1967. In the fall of 1967, she enrolled as a graduate student in the art metal program in the University of Wisconsin-Madison art department. There she met her future husband, Gary Bjorge, who was entering graduate school after completing five years of active duty in the U.S. Navy. They were married in Madison on August 19, 1968.

Following her marriage, Nancy adjusted her education path to pursue a Master of Arts in art education and certification to teach art in Wisconsin schools. In the fall of 1969 she began teaching K-12 art in Waterloo, WI, near Madison, while her husband continued his graduate studies. After two years of teaching, she went back to school to earn her Master of Fine Arts degree in art metal, which she received in 1972. On November 8, 1972, she became a naturalized United States citizen.

Nancy's first child, Benjamin Bruce, was born on July 3, 1974. On December 7, 1976, she gave birth to her daughter, Joanne Marie. In 1980 she and her family moved from Madison to Lawrence, Kansas, when her husband took a job at the University of Kansas. Nancy was very active in the Lawrence community. She continued the work in real estate she had begun in Madison, becoming a realtor with the Gill Agency. From 1981 to 1983 she and Phil Harrison of the Gill Agency hosted a Chinese cooking show on the local cable channel six. She also taught Chinese cooking classes in the evening at Lawrence High School. Looking at the wide variety of cultures present in Lawrence she brought many people together to create a nonprofit organization called the Celebration of Cultures that held multicultural festivals at the Douglas County Fairgrounds and in downtown Lawrence. She served on the boards of the Douglas County Red Cross, the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, KU's anthropology museum, and Kansas International. In 1993 she received a Lawrence Leadership Award. She was a long-time member of the Lawrence Rotary Club and the Lawrence Sister Cities organization. She was also a successful realtor, first with the Gill Agency and later with the McGrew Agency.

Nancy was energetic, enjoyed interacting with people, and was very good at organizing. An example of this last talent was her receiving "The Most Organized" award for 1994 from the Gill Agency. But her greatest passion was creating works of art. After her sister suffered a severe stroke, she decided to focus more energy on art. Remembering how much she enjoyed folding paper as a child, she began experimenting with folding paper and other materials. She joined OrigamiUSA, the American national society devoted to origami, the art of paperfolding, and for over a decade traveled to New York City every summer to attend the organization's annual convention. Her "paper quilts," as she called them, artistic works made by placing folded pieces of paper of different shapes and colors together in geometric patterns, were always greatly admired at the convention's origami exhibition. Her beautiful works of art were exhibited in many places, including Lawrence, Manhattan, and Kansas City in Kansas; San Francisco; Eutin, Germany; and Moscow, Russia.

Nancy was preceded in death by her beloved son Benjamin, who was struck and killed by a car while walking home from his second grade class at Sunset Hill School; her parents; her older brother Billy; and her younger sister Katherine. She is survived by her husband, her daughter Joanne (Charlie), her granddaughter Cecilia, and three brothers, Adi (Reiko), Walter, and Allan (Ying Ying). She will be deeply missed by those who knew her kind and loving heart and were inspired by her creative mind. A celebration of her life will be held at the Lawrence United Methodist Church, Vermont and 10th Street, at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, February 11th. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the hospice/palliative care program at the Kansas University Hospital, a program filled with wonderful people who gave Nancy and her family truly compassionate care when it was needed most, or the First United Methodist Church, Lawrence, Kansas.

For more information or to post a condolence go to warrenmcelwain.com.