Former Milwaukee Journal reporter Nancy Hood dies at age 88

Nancy A. (Playman) Hood, who in the 1950s worked as a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal, died Friday, Aug. 2, in Middleton. She was 88.

Nancy Hood
Nancy Hood

Hood was born June 24, 1931, in Appleton to Dr. Harold and Evelyn Playman. After graduating high school in Appleton, she earned her journalism degree from UW-Madison in 1953.

She wrote obituaries and for the society pages at the Milwaukee Journal, where she met her first husband, Harry Watson. They were married in 1955.

Following Harry’s death, Nancy married Robert Hood in 1968 and moved to his farm in western Waukesha County. They had 150 dairy cows on one of the county’s largest family-owned farms.

Nancy also worked for the Waukesha County Mental Health Association, where she was an advocate for the chronically mentally ill. She later launched the Waukesha chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness as its executive director.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, at Wellspring United Methodist Church in Madison. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. at the church.

» Read the obituary

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