Nancy Yvonne Detrick was born on November 19, 1951 in Garberville and died on October 10, 2025 at her home in Wool Mountain surrounded by family. Nancy heroically lost her battle to cancer after a long fight of six years.

 Nancy was born to her parents Nancy Sanderson Detrick and Harold Lee Detrick. At an early age, Nancy was nicknamed Voncie, and Voncie is the name that she would grow up with and that most people would know and love her as. Voncie and her family moved around Humboldt County all throughout her childhood, but Alderpoint was the home base for her family, and is the town where she put most of her roots. As a young child she attended Zenia, Hoopa and Casterlin Elementary schools and later moved to Eureka for high school. Her first job was cracking crab for the local fish company.

Voncie came back to Alderpoint because she wanted to move back to the countryside with her little boy, Sonny. Voncie reconnected with her old friend who then became her life long partner, Darrell Wyatt in 1972, where they spent 50 years together growing a family and raising hell in the best way possible. They welcomed their first daughter Misty into their family, and a couple years later they welcomed Echo.

As a family they lived in Alderpoint until they later built their home in Harris. In these early years while the children attended school, Voncie was a home maker and Mother, while also always working alongside Darrell. Voncie enjoyed abalone diving, eeling, commercial salmon fishing and tending to the garden, and animals they had on the farm. In the early 2000s, they built and moved into their home in Wool Mountain. Voncie and Darrell were both lucky to be able to have their final moments in this home. This home became the pinnacle for grandchildren and animals. Voncie enjoyed animals and she was known to have a lot of dogs, chickens, cows and she tamed many wild piglets over the years. She also had two cats that were very important to her. Her garden was a place of peace for her, she always grew a huge garden every year. Voncie hand watered this garden every morning, right up until her final weeks. She enjoyed eating from her garden, and also canning the vegetables and fruit for the winter months. She passed on these traditions to her family

Voncie had 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren and she was a very proud grandmother who enjoyed doing things for her grandchildren. She was the type of grandma who would have cookies made for you when you got to her house, food on her wood cook stove, and freshly mopped floors. When her grandchildren were younger, one big event every year was getting the Family picture taken at Sears, you could count on matching outfits and maybe a few tears, but that picture was a staple in their lives. The grandchildren always did it, just for their grandma to send her holiday cards out with that picture inside. Holidays were always spent at Grandma Voncie’s house. Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter, were some of the major holidays that you could count on her whole family gathering together at her house for a meal and celebration. Voncie was not only the designated turkey cooker and pie baker but also the heart of the family. 

Voncie was always ready to go on an adventure, whether that meant going and cutting firewood, swimming at the river or creek, Shelter Cove to fish, Ruth Lake to camp, or just simply going on a drive to see what was going on. She was a great passenger and always made sure there was an ice chest in the back with cold Miller and a bag of snacks.

Voncie was competitive by nature. She loved to sit down at the table and play a game of rummy, or see who’s dish was better at the bbq. Speaking of BBQs, Voncie and Darrell hosted a heck of a lot of BBQs all through their years. Friends and family gathered at their houses for various events. When you came to their house, you could count on Voncie having plenty of food cooked up and a joint, or two, or three rolled for you. Voncie was fortunate to have a lot of friends in the hills where she built her life. Friends that became family. 

Voncie was the matriarch of her family. Her children, Grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins all looked up to her in so many ways. She will be forever missed. The legacy that she left will be carried on in the hearts and minds of those that she loved. 

Voncie is predeceased by: Mother Nancy Sanderson Detrick, Father Harold Leland Detrick, Spouse Darrell Wyatt, siblings: Antone Detrick, Phyllis Wantt, Larry Coleman, Eugene Coleman. 

Voncie is survived by her three children Sonny, Misty, and Echo; ten grandchildren Breanna (Zach), Natalee, Kaitlynn, Shasta (Colt), Austin (Makayla), Brennan (Joslin), Jasmine, Kasey, Lily and Tanner; great-grandchildren Brayden, Azalea, Sage, Maverick, Scarlett, Hayes, Waylon and Addison. Siblings: Judy Scott and September Detrick. And lots of nieces, nephews and cousins.

The family would like to extend a thank you to Deena Johnson and the Heart of the Redwoods Hospice for your support and help during the final weeks of Voncie’s life. 

There will be a celebration of life on November 22, 2025 at 1 p.m. at the Alderpoint Volunteer Fire Hall. This will be a potluck event, please bring a dish and a memory of Voncie. 

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