Nancy Jane (Van Ausdal) Fulker, 85, of Troy, Ohio, died April 4, 2015, at Hospice of Miami County Inpatient Unit at Upper Valley Medical Center, after complications from her long battle with COPD. Nancy is survived by her husband of 64 years, John Edward Fulker; son William Jackson Fulker and daughter-in-law Kim (Graham) Fulker; daughter Cameron Van Ausdal (Fulker) Armstrong and son-in-law Mark T. Armstrong, (all of Troy); ten grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren, her sister, Gretchen  (Van Ausdal) Allen and brother-in-law, Fred Allen; and brother-in-law Roger Fulker and sister-in-law Kay (Hahn) Fulker. Nancy was preceded in death by their son, J. Andrew Fulker, in December of 1989, and a sister, Laura (Van Ausdal) Ketcham.

Daughter of Troy natives Norman (William) Van Ausdal and Lucille (Walker) Van Ausdal, Nancy was born in Sydney, Australia, on August 18, 1929. Bill Van Ausdal was a troubleshooter for Frigidaire Corporation, and traveled the world. As a result, Nancy lived in Australia and Sao Paulo, Brazil, South America, and learned to speak Spanish before learning English, and before returning to Troy for her education.

She spent summertime days reading books out with her horse in the fields of the farm they lived on, eating vegetables from the crops, and her mother never understanding why she wasn't hungry at dinnertime. Her father knew.

She practiced her piano in a steel Hobart home on Westgate Circle, where the walls would echo from the sound.

Prior to graduating from Troy High School in 1947, Nancy and John had their first formal date on April 13, 1945, and never looked at any other. Upon their graduation, Nancy was enrolled in the Cincinnati Conservatory for Music, as she was a very talented singer, and John had been offered a football scholarship to the University of Cincinnati. She later changed her plans when John instead accepted an academic scholarship at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, for pre-law. She instead attended what was then Western College - a women's college in very close proximity to Miami. Western College later merged with Miami University.

At Western, Nancy was in the Delta Delta Delta sorority, and was selected by John's fraternity as the Phi Kappa Tau Dream Girl, something that John has always been extremely proud of. Upon John's graduation from Miami in 1950, Nancy returned to Troy to work for a law firm while John attended law school at Columbia University in New York City and drove a cab, before returning to Troy to marry Nancy on June 2, 1951. Both then went to New York while John completed law school, then returned to Troy, where John began his legal practice in 1953, the same year as the birth of their first son, Andy.

Nancy dedicated her life to her husband, her family, and her interests, which were widely varied. She had a lifelong love of animals and nature, and she and John took annual week-long canoe and camping trips down many different rivers in Michigan. She volunteered her time at Brukner Nature Center, and she, John, and her family loved spending every spring, summer, and fall weekend at the cottage that John and his father built, enjoying the tranquility of the lake and the wildlife and waterfowl. Their own residence in Troy was filled with loud boisterous noise as the home was a welcome haven for all sorts and varieties of strays, both animal and human, both wild and domesticated.

Nancy spent decades volunteering for Troy-Hayner Cultural Center, where she served on both the House Committee and the Exhibit Committee since the early 1980s. She was the Chair of the Exhibit Committee from 1993-1998 and then again from 2000-2010. She received special recognition for her leadership of this committee in 1999. Nancy was instrumental in acquiring many notable exhibitions for the Hayner, as well as one particular exhibit that struck a chord with her own personal interest: an exhibit on the very collectible antique duck decoys with her own meticulously researched, detailed, and informational educational booklet in 1992.

Her service to Hayner also included years of coordinating mini exhibitions of antiques and collectibles, as well as coordinating the second series of Antiques Seminars, held at the Hayner beginning in 2000.

Nancy served on the Hayner Board of Governors from 1988-1994, and held the office of Vice President in 1990 and of President for two years, from 1991-93. She has served on every levy committee since 1990.

She and John were Charter members of Friends of Hayner. Nancy served as a Friends Trustee from 1995-2000 and served as Vice President from 1997 to the end of her term.

Nancy served on various projects and committees of the Board and was on the committee that acquired and developed the Hayner Distillery Exhibition. She volunteered for over a decade as the greeter for children visiting Santa at Hayner âs Holiday Open House. Nancy was a desk receptionist volunteer from 2012-2014. Twice she has helped to take the Hayner's team to victory at the Altrusa Spelling Bee, and was on the spelling team for at least six years.

She adored Irish setters for their rollicking personalities and their sweet temperments, and raised many over a fifty year span, the perfect complement to John's black Labradors.

Graveside services will be held at 2:30 pm on Thursday, April 9, at Riverside Cemetery in Troy. A memorial service celebrating Nancy's life will begin at 4:00 pm at Troy Hayner Cultural Center, with the Rev. Doctor Diana Vogt presiding. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to be sent to either Troy Hayner Cultural Center, 301 W. Main Street, Troy, OH 45373, or Hospice of Miami County Inpatient Unit,P.O. Box 502, Troy, Ohio 45373.