08/17/2026
I am sorry to learn of the passing of Nancy Tiller, wife and partner to Dr. Jim Tiller. Nancy's name will forever be inscribed on a 4' tall black granite marker for Trammel's Trace, erected by the Nacogdoches chapter of the DRT. She created the beautiful map of Trammel's Trace that I use constantly. Here is her obituary with information about the visitation and her funeral mass.
Nancy Triska Tiller
1942-2026
Nancy (Triska) Tiller passed away unexpectedly Wednesday, August 12, 2026, in New Braunfels, TX, following a stroke while undergoing treatment for blood clots. She was 83 years old. Her beloved husband Jim was at her bedside when she died.
Nancy Marie Triska came into the world on November 21, 1942, in El Campo, TX. Her parents – Richard Leo and Martha Marie (Kacal) Triska – were descendants of 19th-century Czech immigrants to Central and South Central Texas. The family would shortly relocate to Rosenberg, 40 miles closer to Houston along the Brazos River, where Nancy enjoyed an idyllic childhood. She attended Holy Rosary Catholic grade school and Lamar Consolidated High School before matriculating at North Texas State College (now the University of North Texas) in Denton.
She graduated in 1964 with a degree in business that she put to good use in the ensuing years. More consequential, however, was her marriage several months after graduation to the man with whom she would spend the next six decades of her life, James Weeks Tiller, Jr.
After recovering from a raucous Czech wedding in Rosenberg that lasted well into the early hours (and included at least 12 kegs of beer), they settled in Dallas. By force of a vivacious personality, quick wit, an abundance of charm, and obvious native intelligence, Nancy secured a position with the vaunted Bloom Advertising Agency in Downtown Dallas.
At Bloom, she was soon handed a plum assignment: helping open Dallas’s fabled NorthPark Center. As a part of this task, she was dispatched to New York City’s Garment District with instructions to find someone – anyone – who could deliver a seamless red ribbon two feet wide and more than a mile long … and to do so in less than a month. The ribbon would be used to completely wrap NorthPark on the day of its 1965 Grand Opening. (She was not required to procure giant scissors.) It was a daunting assignment. Yet she came through with aplomb, and was delighted in 2025 when NorthPark celebrated its 60th anniversary with her ribbon prominently featured in many news accounts.
Dallas was but a temporary home for Nancy and Jim. They soon decamped north of the Red River where Nancy supported the couple by working for local advertising firm Jordan-Kumler (now Jordan Advertising) while Jim pursued his PhD at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Tiller finally emerged with his doctorate sheepskin in hand before they moved on to teaching posts for Jim in Nashville and New Orleans (where their daughter Sandy was born in 1971).
In 1972, they finally settled and established a comfortable life in Huntsville, TX, where Jim was hired to head the Geography Department at Sam Houston State University. One year into the Huntsville residency, their son Rick joined older sister Sandy, and Nancy committed to raising them while Jim embarked on a remarkable academic career that would span 50 years.
The 1970s were a happy time, filled with university obligations, school athletics, and civic boosterism. When the kids were well situated, Nancy re-entered the workforce in 1981. She launched her own business, The Advertising Agency, a staple of the town’s commercial life located just off Huntsville’s town square. For the next several decades it served a variety of clients both local and national.
A particular joy of Nancy’s was their tight circle of Huntsville friends who in the early 1970s formed what they called the Gourmet Club. The group met regularly over the next 50 years, almost to the present day. Consisting of couples Katherine and Jerry Dowling; Eddie and the late Shirley Dye; Burnham Jones and Betty Colley; and Dr. Charles and Jane Monday, the Club bonded and grew closer over meals and friendship. An excellent all-around cook, Nancy was particularly proud of the desserts she contributed to these affairs.
The couple retired from Huntsville to the Texas Hill Country in 2012 (though Nancy and Jim both kept working remotely, anticipating COVID and WFH by eight years) and embraced their Golden Years largely by focusing on spoiling grandkids. It was evident to all that the great happiness she shared with Jim was compounded and magnified by her children’s marriages and – especially – the presence of grandchildren whom she adored.
New Braunfels was a magical haven for her and the kiddos. Whether dancing with them at Gruene Hall, floating alongside them down the Comal River, or insisting on feeding them ice cream for practically every meal, nothing expressed her love for her family more than the close relationships she had with each of her children’s children.
When the kids weren’t visiting, Nancy threw herself wholeheartedly into cultivating her community in New Braunfels. She made new friends effortlessly and was especially active in the local ladies’ mahjong club.
Nancy served as master cartographer for Jim’s research projects, and some of her works may be seen in the Nancy and Jim Tiller Digital Collection at the Texas General Land Office and the Trammel’s Trace Historical Marker in Nacogdoches.
Despite the friends in whose company she reveled – always with a smile (she was ALWAYS smiling) – she preferred just quietly relaxing with her very best friend, Jim. With her faithful partner, she lived the fullest and most joyful of lives in her last years.
She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Patrick Triska. In addition to her husband, she is survived by younger brother Richard Triska, Jr.; daughter Sandy Schulz, her husband Max, and their children Peter, Joseph, and Dominic; son Rick Tiller, his wife, Jessie Yoo, and daughters Emily, Nora, and Lucy; and numerous in-laws, nieces, and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 27, 2026, at St. William of Vercelli Catholic Church, located at 4088 NW Loop in Carthage, TX.
Visitation will be held on Thursday August 20, from 5-7 p.m. at the Doeppenschmidt Funeral Home in New Braunfels, TX (189 N. Seguin Ave.) and on Wednesday, August 26, from 5-7 p.m. at the Hawthorn Funeral Home in Carthage, TX (307 West Wellington Street).
Burial will take place at Bracken Cemetery near Elysian Fields off Tiller Road following the funeral Mass.
Nancy was a fervent supporter of the non-profit organization CONNECTIONS Individual and Family Services. The organization provides shelter, security, counseling, and substance abuse prevention education to at-risk individuals in the greater Comal County area. Her family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to CONNECTIONS at 1414 W. San Antonio St., New Braunfels, TX 78130.
