♰Natalija (Nancy) Tica, age 80, of Schererville IN, passed away on Monday, November 24, 2025, in Munster IN.
Nancy, the daughter of the late Bosko and Milka Nanich, was born in a refugee camp in Cesana, Italy, on July 6, 1945. The Nanich family emigrated to the United States through Baltimore, Maryland and eventually settled on the southeast side of Chicago, where Nancy grew up and graduated from Bowen High School. The family was an active member of the St Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church community on Commercial Ave. Shortly after her high school graduation, Nancy met her husband, Jovo Tica, and they were married on June 5, 1965, first living on the southeast side of Chicago, then establishing a new life in the East Chicago, IN community, and eventually settling in St John, then Schererville, IN.
Nancy had a deep devotion to her husband, Jovo, who passed before her in 1999. Their relationship was one of the defining aspects of her life. She took great pride in supporting and elevating everything connected to him. Whether hosting family gatherings or attending family and community events, she made sure that his activities and interests were handled with elegance and dignity, which reflected the respect she held for him and their life together.
Nancy, together with her husband, had a natural ability to bring people together. Their home was often filled with Kumovi, family, guests, friends, conversation and lots of activity. They opened their home and welcomed many people through its doors, especially family members and other immigrants who were building new lives in the United States. Their hospitality also offered the leaders of the Serbian Orthodox Church community, as well as many others, a place of comfort, safety, stability and belonging, when they visited Northwest Indiana.
Nancy was well known and respected across the Serbian diaspora in the United States, but especially at the St George Serbian Orthodox Church in Schererville, IN, where she found purpose, friendship, and a place where her work and support of others was genuinely appreciated. She was an active presence in church life and valued the friendships and connections she made there throughout the years.
Nancy was surrounded by a loyal circle of long-time girlfriends who stood by one another through every season of life. They were her core group, the people she turned to first with her worries, hopes, ideas and achievements. Until the end, their bond remained strong, and these women remained a constant presence in her life.
Nancy was active in the St George Serbian Orthodox Church community, including its Circle of Serbian Sisters. She was an engaged member of the Chetnik Kolo Sestara (Schererville) and the Midwest Diocese of the Circle of Serbian Sisters. She was a member of SNF Lodge 171. She never missed a packing day in support of the mission of Lifeline Chicago, particularly during their Christmas gift shipments to the orphanages and women’s shelters in Serbia. She was also devoted to the mission work of the Serbian Orthodox Monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in New Carlisle, IN, the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Libertyville, IL, and the New Gracanica Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Third Lake, IL and spent significant time at all of them helping with upkeep and supplies needed to support the Sisters and seminarians.
Nancy is survived by her children, Darko, Nina (Rob), and Jovica (Violet), her brother, Bill (Margaret), grandchildren Stefani (Ben), Milan (Stefani) and Gabriel (Alexis), great-grandchildren Teodora, Mila and Milos, beloved Kumovi Vukas, Balac, Radinovic and Vasic families, and members of the extended Nanich and Tica families.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Jovo Tica, her parents, Bosko and Milka Nanich, her cousin Darko Nanic, and her uncle Darko Nanic.
Viewing and Pomen is November 30 at Lincoln Ridge Funeral Home, Schererville. Funeral is December 1 at St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, burial at Calumet Park.
May her memory be eternal.
