Nancy Kovats Lea (Niethammer)

Nancy (Niethammer) Kovats Lea passed away July 12, 2026, at the age of 85. Nancy was born in Casper, Wyoming. She earned a degree in education from the University of Wyoming in 1962 and master’s degree in journalism/professional writing from the University of Oklahoma in 1976. She married Julius Kovats in 1962 and together they had three children - Julius (Andy), James, and Julie. They moved several times throughout Wyoming, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Missouri – they had to follow where Julius could get schooling and employment as a geologist. Because of this, their marriage was full of adventure, and a bit of chaos, as they both worked and earned graduate degrees while raising a family. Nancy and Julius ended up in Missouri and divorced in 1977, but they remained friends until his death in 2014.

Nancy left Missouri and moved to Fort Collins, Colorado with two of her children in 1982. Her eldest son remained in Missouri to finish a college degree and later moved to Colorado, too. She found happiness with having all three of her children living in Colorado. In 1986, Nancy married Richard R. Lea. Together they shared a love of all things historical and spent numerous hours traveling and exploring. They particularly loved visiting sites in the American Old West. They even spent their honeymoon at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. In 2009, Nancy became a widow when Richard died at the age of 65.

Nancy was teacher as well as an accomplished writer. Her writing career started in first grade with her book Snow White, the Cat. She was so proud that she decided then and there that she would be a writer. In the second grade, she told her sister, “I’m not going to be something ordinary like a housewife, I’m going to be something special like a writer.” Even though she did become a housewife, she was never ordinary and she discovered that being a housewife and a mother could also be special, and extraordinary. Life would both impede and inspire her writing -- many of her stories centered around the struggles of marriage, divorce, and single parenthood. Although, oftentimes, she was able to find, and write about, the humor in the struggles. Along with her personal stories, she found her passions in research, history, and travel. She published numerous short stories, magazine articles, and an historical pamphlet about Annie Talent, the first white woman in the Black Hills. After much research and creative imagination, her writing career culminated in the publication of her first historical fiction novel. The novel was professionally published under the title of Passion’s Gold in 1986. It combined accurate historical storytelling and the life of a widowed mother finding love, danger, and conflict in the backdrop of the 1876 gold rush in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory. When the contract with the original publisher expired, Nancy was able to regain control of the narrative and self-published her novel under the title Deadwood Destiny, in 2009. Both novels are still available to the public.

Each of the children from Nancy’s first marriage to Julius Kovats had two children, giving her a total of 6 grandchildren. This bestowed upon her the everlasting moniker of Nannalea (Nanna). Nanna adored Jillian, Kera, Jace, Kylie, Julius, and Katherine. When they entered her life, she embraced being a grandmother with great love and devotion. She continued to be an active influence in all her grandchildren’s lives, and, as a writer at heart, often offered to help them with any writings their schooling required, whether it was an elementary school paragraph about summer vacation, or a college level research paper. She did everything she could to spend as much time with her grandchildren as possible – and she constantly tried to find unique, educational adventures to inspire her grandchildren. She even somehow convinced “The Cat in the Hat” to make a stop at her home to see the grandkids after he visited the local elementary school for Dr. Seuss Day.

Nanna volunteered at the Good Samaritan, the Unitarian Church, and for Friends of the Library in Fort Collins, CO. She had a generous heart and regularly donated her time and money to numerous charitable organizations.

Nanna is survived by her children: Julius “Andy” Kovats (and wife, Robin), James Kovats (and wife, Kelli), and Julie Kovats Fulton (and husband, Justin), all in Colorado; her grandchildren: Jillian Fulton Yocham (and husband, Cory), Jace Fulton (and wife, Macki), Kera Kovats, Julius Kovats, Katherine Kovats, all in Colorado, and Kylie Jade Kovats in Washington; and her sister: Doris Rodelander, in Colorado. Nanna was preceded in death by her parents: Herman and Julia Niethammer in Wyoming; her brother: Fred Niethammer in Wyoming; her ex-husband: Julius A. Kovats in Colorado; and her husband: Richard R. Lea in Colorado.

Nanna spent her final days in Bloom Hospice care at Brookdale Assisted Living and Memory Care in Fort Collins, CO. She passed with all her children and her local grandchildren having the opportunity to visit and say their goodbyes. Though her memory faded at the end of her life, our memory of her will live on through the legacies of her writing, and the love of her children and grandchildren.

“Love is the only memory one never loses. . .because even if one loses his mind the memory always remains in the heart.” Felix Alexander, The Romantic