Nina May Ellen Reps (ne. Macri) passed away unexpectedly January 24, 2023, at NCK Medical Center, Concordia, Kansas.
Nina was born on April 9, 1938, in Flushing, NY to James W. and Jennie (Spinella) Macri. Shortly afterwards the family moved to Mexico where Nina attended primary school then secondary school in Venezuela then Colombia, with a short move to Prince Rupert Canada, where she remembered her father once telling her, “When you whistle at the Northern Lights, they’ll come down to greet you.”
Moving back to The States she attended Sacred Heart Academy in San Francisco, then received her bachelor’s in Sociology from Queens University of Charlotte, NC. She was on the basketball team, President of the Drama club, member of the Literary and Historical Clubs, and the Student and Women’s Hall Council.
Nina’s hero was the famed anthropologist Margaret Mead who famously said, “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think”, a sentiment Nina embraced throughout her life.
She had dreams of exploring wild places and exotic peoples. She was married in 1959 and in the early 60s she moved with her growing young family to Arizona where she would travel the Sonoran Desert with her children and sometimes little sister in tow in search of ghost towns and expanding her prized collection of Santa Clara pottery.
Finally settling in Los Angeles in 1968, and after a divorce in 1987, she lived with her son Bill Reps in a beautiful Spanish colonial home on Longwood Ave and worked as administrator for St. Gregory of Nazianzen Catholic School in Los Angeles until her retirement in 2003. Her son Bill will always be grateful for her tenderness during his times of need.
“I’m really going to miss Mom’s sense of humor.” Bill Reps
She moved to Concordia, KS in 2013 and was later joined by her daughter Christina in 2018.
“I have beautiful memories of my mother pruning her rose bushes and I have funny memories of my mother tackling the weedwacker.” Christina Reps.
She was a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, where she attended Mass every Saturday evening.
She joined the Red Hat Society of Concordia where she re-ignited her passion for reading mysteries.
She had a quick wit, was liked by everyone who met her, and admired for her dedication to family.
She is survived by her ex-spouse, Francis M. Reps and their five children; Christina Reps, KS, Francesca Steele (Tom), OR Michael Reps (Amanda), New Zealand, John Reps, AL, William Bill Reps, CA, and ten grandchildren: Roxanne Pelton, Jim Steele, Christopher, David, Zavier, Orlando, Quincy, Sofia, Joseph, and Robin Reps and one great grandson Lennox Kenji Lines.
She is also survived by her brother William Macri, Bowie, MD, and sister, Althea Sicard, Concordia, KS. She was preceded by her parents.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 2:00 p.m., Monday, February 20, 2023 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Concordia, Kansas with Fr. David Metz officiating. A Rosary service will be prayed for Nina at 1:30 p.m. Monday, February 20, 2013 prior to the Mass service at the Church.
Cremation will follow the services.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) in care of the funeral home. For online condolences, please visit www.chaputbuoy.com.
