Heather Ann Nasi

Heather Wilhelm Nasi, 87, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, passed away peacefully on Tuesday night, July 28, 2026, surrounded by her sons, Mark and Mike, and her daughter-in-law, Carolyn.

Heather was born on May 11, 1939, in Lincoln, Nebraska, the daughter of Wilson and Mabel Wilhelm. She grew up on farms in southwest Iowa — near Hawleyville, Essex, Elliott, and Villisca — attending one-room country schoolhouses through the eighth grade before graduating from Villisca High School. An active member of 4-H, she raised and showed livestock, sewed a championship dress exhibited at the Iowa State Fair, played four years of high school basketball, and attended Girls' State.

She went on to earn a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1961. It was in college, at the start of her sophomore year in 1958, that she met John Nasi, whom she married in 1963 while he was in dental school. Heather and John shared 44½ years of marriage before John's passing in 2007.

John's career with the U.S. Public Health Service and Indian Health Service took the young family across the country — from Staten Island, New York, where son Mark was born in 1964, to Lame Deer, Montana, where daughter Michele was born in 1966, to Mt. Edgecumbe, Alaska, and back to Lincoln, Nebraska, where son Michael (Mike) was born in 1970. In 1972, the family settled in Gallup, New Mexico, when John was assigned to the Gallup Indian Medical Center as a periodontist, beginning what would become more than 50 years of Heather calling New Mexico home.

Throughout her life, Heather’s faith in God was a constant source of strength and purpose, inspiring a lifetime of service and devotion to her family, her friends, her church, her students, and her community. Music was also at the center of Heather's life. Dating back to 1961, she taught public school music, gave private piano, voice and instrumental lessons, and directed choirs throughout her life, mentoring generations of students. Beginning in 1973, she served as volunteer choir director at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Gallup for 30 years, later continuing on as the church's pianist until she moved to Albuquerque in 2022.

Heather was a devoted member of P.E.O. Chapter C in Gallup, which she joined in 1975 (initiated January 15, 1976). Over the decades she served the chapter as President, Treasurer, Corresponding Secretary, and Recording Secretary, and on numerous committees. She represented her chapter as a delegate to several New Mexico State Conventions and treasured the friendship of her P.E.O. sisters.

Heather was preceded in death by her parents, Wilson and Mabel Wilhelm; her stepmother, Carol Wilhelm; her sister, Connie; her husband of 44½ years, John Nasi, in 2007; and her daughter, Michele in 2013.

She is survived by her son, Mark Nasi, and his wife, Carolyn, and their children, Matthew (and his wife, Marisa, and their daughter, Scarlett) and Nicole; her son, Michael (Mike) Nasi, and his wife, Thresa, and their children, Ella, Anna, and Wilson; and her daughter Michele's husband, Mike Scott, and their children, Allison, Derek (and his wife, Kara, and their son, Nolan), and Jalyn (and her husband, Doak Holloway). She is also survived by her siblings, Tom, Rex, and Judy, along with many cherished cousins, nieces, nephews, extended family, students, and friends.

A celebration of life will be held at the Sandia Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Saturday, September 5th at 1:00 pm with a morning graveside service for family at the Santa Fe National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Labor Day, Monday, September 7th .

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the center of Heather’s faith life for half a century - Westminster Presbyterian Church, 151 NM 564, Gallup, New Mexico 87301.