Friend of Buhl

1953-2026

As I walked into the Antique Building at the Fair, I started to cry. The section where Nancy Tyrrell displayed all of her antiques every year was mostly empty. And yet, the empty space reflected Nancy’s entire life of filling up so many empty spaces in buildings…and in people. The big red barn where Nancy had her framing and antique business served as a Welcome Wagon and Counseling Center dispensing hope, encouragement, concrete assistance, and prayers. Nancy knew everyone in Buhl and could tell you where they lived, their background, and what they were doing now. She loved everyone and everyone loved her. But she focused especially on the people whom others couldn’t or wouldn’t help. She spent countless hours helping helpless people find a fresh start and new purpose in life.

Nancy improved everything she encountered. She would walk into my house, grab a picture off the wall, say the frame was a piece of junk, take the picture home with her, and bring it back with a fantastic frame. She often explained to me the process of fixing things: “you see how you take this thingamajig and piece it into this doohickey?” Hmmm.. “And then it makes a tight whatsis into the whosome and it’s ready to go.” Great, let’s do that! If you went antiquing with Nancy, she would head to the back of the store, crawl underneath a counter, and start pulling out the best finds, covered in dirt and unrecognizable. Then Nancy would take them to her barn and work on them until they became beautiful artwork, furniture, or other desirable items.

It was difficult to determine if Nancy ever slept. Up at 4:30 and having worked several hours, she would call while I was still bleary-eyed to tell me about her most recent project. One of her biggest projects was organizing and creating memorabilia for Buhl’s 100^th birthday that included a silver coin and crocks, the latter attracted to Nancy like flies to honey. Nancy and I scouted out the old windows from the Clover church and Nancy framed the glass and made trays from them, something that would never have occurred to the rest of us. She custom framed all of my cherished Clover legacy pictures where six generations of family have attended church.

Nancy was the first person outside my family to greet me when I moved back to Idaho in 2000. She graciously introduced me to her closest friends who became my closest friends. Always loving, always giving, always living out her faith, Nancy touched more people in her lifetime than anyone else I know. And she’s still busy. The angels are listening with rapt attention as she explains how to join this whatsis into this whosome to build another mansion!

Priscilla Martens