Nancy Elaine Sirridge

Nancy Elaine (Breitenstein) Sirridge, 81, peacefully entered eternal rest on July 28, 2024. Nancy was born in Kansas City, Kansas on January 3, 1943 to Alfred L. and Jessie Jane (Utz) Breitenstein. She spent the majority of her life in Kansas City, Kansas, first attending St.Anthony Catholic Grade School then Bishop Ward High School, where she was a majorette and baton twirler. Nancy was always close to her family, spending her childhood summers at Gardner Lake with her siblings, her cousins, and her beloved Aunt Helen. She later took her own children to Gardner Lake every summer, summers that are cherished memories to all. Upon graduation from Bishop Ward, Nancy attended nursing school at St.Margaret’s.

On March 3, 1962, Nancy married her husband of 61 years, William (Bill) Sirridge at St. Anthony Catholic Church. Bill once told Nancy that she could have as many children as she wanted, as long as they came home one at a time. Nancy dutifully followed this directive, having four children in the span of five years, but bringing them home one at a time. Their first child, Michele, was born in 1963, followed by sons David in 1964 and Paul in 1966. Finally they welcomed their youngest child, Julie in 1968. Bill and Nancy made their home on Muncie Drive on the Sirridge homestead, across from Bill’s parents and not far from Nancy’s parents, whom they visited each and every weekend.

A natural caregiver, Nancy’s primary occupation was as a homemaker and mother to her four children, but she also maintained a job outside the home as the secretary of the Amalgamated Sugar Company for 26 years.

Following their retirement, Bill and Nancy relocated to Basehor, Kansas, where they enjoyed visits from their children and grandchildren and pursued their hobbies. An avid sports fan, Nancy supported her hometown teams including the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals, Sporting KC, and NASCAR. Nancy was a gifted painter, sewist and needlepoint artist, creating countless baby-sized, child-sized, and even Barbie doll-sized items for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She remained close to her mother and sisters throughout her life, and in retirement, they were known as the “Drag Bag Squad”. “Drag Bagging” usually involved having lunch, shopping, going to craft stores, and taking vacations together.

In her later years, Nancy’s health prevented her from regularly attending Mass, but her sincerely held faith was always evident and present. Nancy’s legacy is in her very nature of being a born caregiver. She was always there to turn on a lamp if one of her loved ones was reading, she covered people with blankets if they seemed chilled, she would get up to get the ketchup from the kitchen every dinnertime, she followed children with “Monkey Blood” for every cut and scrape real or imagined, and she stood in the driveway waving to the grandchildren until they couldn’t see her anymore every time they left her house, saying “I love you to pieces!!!!”

Nancy is and she was loved to absolute pieces, and she will be missed so very much.

Nancy was preceded in death by her husband Bill Sirridge, her sister Janie Wyckoff, and her grandson Tristan Simpson. Nancy is survived by: Alfred(Sheila) Breitenstein, Rusty (Doris) Breitenstein and Francie (Bill) Locke, her four children: Michele Sirridge, David (Lisa) Sirridge, Paul (Jenifer) Sirridge, and Julie (Tony) Simpson, her nine grandchildren: Brandi Sirridge, Kristina (Christopher) Laurent, Kelley (Hunter) McLees, Jennifer (Augie) Pierce, Ryan (Hilary) Sirridge, Beca (Justin) Dutton, Megan Price, Trevor (Shannon) Simpson, and Jessica Simpson, many great-grandchildren, friends, and neighbors.