Peggy (Nice) Neathammer

Peggy (Nice) Neathammer passed away Thursday morning, Oct. 3, 2024, at home in North Fort Myers, Fla., at the age of, well, honestly, she wouldn’t want you to know. She spent a good 20 years being 29, so the math is a bit fluid.

Peggy was preceded in passing by her father, Gus Nice; mother, Darlene Carlson; brothers, Robert and Eugene; daughter, Kathy; and second husband, Gene Neathammer.

She is survived by her sons, Richard and Douglas; daughters-in-law, Sue and Raychell; brother, Ned; sisters, JoAnn and Kay; partner, Terry; grandchildren, Taylor, Matthew, Quinton, Katie and Susie; and six great-grandchildren.

Peggy grew up in Rock Island, where she spent the bulk of her childhood playing with her brothers and sisters. Peggy made her way to Rantoul, where she cut her teeth on parenting with her oldest son, Rick, and really honed her skills with her second son, Doug.

Peggy finally decided she had had enough of the Illinois winters and took flight south to Florida, where she stayed warm year-round and managed to play a fair amount of golf.

How do you encapsulate a lifetime in black and white letters on a page (screen)? Peggy was an amazing mother who loved her sons unconditionally, even when they worked her every last nerve (which, if she is to be believed, happened more often than either one of them could possibly recall). She loved music, travel, good food and the company of good friends, but most of all, she loved her family more than anything else in the world. In Peggy’s own words, “My life is full, and I am a very lucky lady.” We, those who are left behind, did not have her for as long as we would have liked, but we were truly lucky for the time we did have with her.

We love you and miss you, Mom.

There will be no public funeral or visitation, as she didn’t want us making a fuss. But there will be a celebration of life, which is, by rule, neither a funeral nor a visitation, on Saturday, Nov. 9, from noon to 2 p.m. at The Gathering Place, 200 S. Century Ave., Rantoul.

In lieu of flowers, the family would encourage donations to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer organization or the Rantoul Public Library.