MANDY "NANCY AMANDA" DEMING, 73, passed away October 26, 2023, at Memorial Medical Center, Las Cruces, NM, where she was being treated for acute sepsis. Her sister Lynn Deming and good friends Barbara Myers and Sudha Murthy were with her. She was born at the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, on March 22, 1950, to Wanda Yost Deming and Pierson Presbrey "Pep" Deming, M.D. She was the youngest of four children.

The family moved to Colorado in 1953, living first at Fort Carson for two years, then just outside of Castle Rock for two years, and finally, in 1958, settling in the Black Forest, near Colorado Springs. They loved Colorado, where they lived in the country and always had dogs, cats, and horses. Mandy, like her three older siblings, graduated from Air Academy High School. She attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, where her brother Mike and sister Lynn graduated; but after two years, she transferred to the University of Oklahoma, Norman, where Lynn was in graduate school and Mike had just graduated medical school. She became an avid OU Sooner, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology. She taught biology at Moore High School, Moore, Oklahoma, for ten years.

In 1986, Mandy moved to Las Cruces to be closer to her parents—her mother had moved to Las Cruces in 1975—and sister. She wanted to teach elementary students, so she earned a Master of Arts degree in reading at New Mexico State University. She began her new career teaching at Mesilla Elementary School; she retired in 2010 from Dona Ana Elementary School. She loved her elementary students; they gave her joy and hugs and shared her love of children's books and frogs and all animals.

Mandy had a bubbly personality, a recognizable laugh, and was an animated conversationalist. Everywhere she went in Las Cruces, she ran into colleagues, students, students' parents, and friends, and she enjoyed stopping to chat with them. She loved to swim and was active at the community pool until arthritic joint pain and then covid curtailed her pool visits. She was a competitive game player and especially enjoyed playing Mexican-train dominoes with good friends in Las Cruces and with her nephews and their families at the family ranch in Colorado. For many years she was active in AAUW. She also enjoyed local theater and for decades was a season ticket holder at the American Southwest Theater Company (NMSU), the Las Cruces Community Theatre, and the Black Box Theatre. And she was an avid OU Sooners fan, always watching OU football, basketball, and girls' basketball and softball games on TV.

She was preceded in death by her brother Perry (October 1992), her father (October 2003), her mother (February 2009), and her brother Mike (October 2013).  She is survived and beloved by her sister Lynn of San Antonio, NM; her aunt Rita Wiklund and husband Stan of Seattle, WA; her first cousins Ann Markee Pierson (and Mark) of Seattle, WA; Nancy Markee Barker (and Ken) of Tigard, OR; and Brent Markee of Seattle, WA; her sister-in-law Patsy Denham and husband Lanny of Olathe, CO; her nephew Hardy Deming (and Wendy) of Miles City, MT; her nephews David Deming (and Heidi) and Stan Deming (and Robyn Ann) of Nampa, ID; her former niece-in-law Charlotte Deming of Cody, WY; her sister-in-law Venus Deming of Lynnwood, WA; her nephew Raul Deming (and Sarah) of Seattle, WA; her nephew Mario Deming (and Courtney) of Edmonds, WA. All their families. And her beloved doggy Jasmine and kitty cats Nathan, Tiger Lily, and Penelope.

In lieu of flowers, she would be pleased if you made a donation in her name to your favorite animal protection organization or charity or to the Las Cruces Community Theatre or the Black Box Theatre.

She has been cremated. No services are planned. Lynn would be pleased to receive cards at PO Box 28, San Antonio, NM 87832.

"Those you love are never dead" (Ernest Hemingway).

Cremation has been entrusted to the care of Baca's Funeral Chapel of Las Cruces and Sunset Crematory, 300 E. Boutz Road, 527-2222. Your exclusive provider for "Veterans and Family Memorial Care." For online condolences logon to www.bacasfuneralchapelslascruces.com