Nancy Libia (Ocaña) Mesina

The Lord called Nancy Ocaña Mesina home on December 2, 2020. Nancy was a strong, supportive, and deeply loving sister and mother, and an adoring grandmother. Nancy brought people together, vigorously endured adversity, and, above all, cherished her family.

Nancy was born in Huaraz, Peru, in 1941, the 11th of 13 children. Quiet and unscathed from World War II and its aftermath, she lived with her family in the Andean town. Throughout Nancy’s early years, she encountered adversity that would permanently shape her worldview. She eventually left home for college in Lima, where she earned her doctorate in pharmacy at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

In 1970, she immigrated to the United States intent on assisting her family’s recovery from the Ancash Earthquake, which devastated Huaraz and claimed the lives of her brother Juan, his wife, and their four children. She arrived in New York City and settled in Queens. She developed close friendships there and met her husband, Romeo Mesina. Their son Dennis was born in 1977, and she devoted herself to his upbringing.

Nancy and her family moved to Stuart, Florida, in 1987. She became an active member of the fledgling Hispanic community in the quiet beach town. She championed the inclusion of a Mass in Spanish at her local parish, volunteered to assist the underprivileged, and worked to help other immigrants start new lives in the United States. Along the way, she fostered lifelong friendships and helped grow a more inclusive community.

She became a grandmother in 2005. It was a calling she embraced, notwithstanding the onset of dementia a few years later. Widowed in 2014, she left Florida to live with her son’s family in Virginia.

Over 79 years, Nancy travelled to and from two continents, living with conviction in a time of incredible change. She persevered through cataclysmic disasters, dictatorships, and prejudice. She overcame barriers of gender, language, and culture, and she did so with a biting sense of humor and assertiveness long before it was fashionable to “lean in.”

Nancy is survived by her brother Reynaldo Ocaña; her son, Dennis; daughter-in-law, Denise; and her grandchildren: Abigail (15), Samuel (11), John (9), and Paul (9). Her loyal companion, Bosco, a German Shepherd-mix and rescue will also miss her dearly.