Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death.
Nilsa Nippolt, of Hood River, Ore., died from complications of ovarian cancer on Dec. 23, 2021. She was 58 years old.
Nilsa Jane Nippolt was born on April 4, 1963, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the fourth of five daughters of the late Robert (Bob) J. Nippolt and Sharon (Toni) McNamee Nippolt. Her sunny smile and sweet nature made her a family favorite. Her father was a military aviator, and her family moved frequently, settling during her early years in Laguna Beach, Calif., where she played beach volleyball, and her lifelong love of tennis and of horses began. She and her beloved pony, Marty, rode in shows, on the beach, and once even inside a Newport Beach mansion, her playful spirit already in evidence. In 1973, her family moved to The Dalles, Ore., and, shortly thereafter, to a commercial fruit orchard in Hood River, Ore. A natural athlete with strong presence, in addition to horse-showing, she was a skier, a gymnast, a cheerleader, danced in school musicals, and played varsity volleyball and tennis. She loved fashion, and delighting her friends with her comedic antics. In 1981, Nilsa graduated from Hood River Valley High School, and in 1985, from the University of Oregon, with a B.A. in English. She was a member of Alpha Phi fraternity.
Nilsa worked in public relations in Los Angeles, including stints at The Tonight Show at NBC and at radio stations KBIG and KJOY. In 1988, she married her high school sweetheart, Mike Zeman. Eventually, they moved back to Hood River and established Zeman’s Muzic and owned the Gorge Trailer Park, and built a log home in Mt. Hood-Parkdale. Her only child, Sebastian Zee Zeman, was born in 2003.
For many years, Nilsa worked in advertising sales for Sprint, and then for Sysco Foods, one year achieving top national salesperson honors. Wanting more time with her son, she turned her home into the BnB “Bigfoot Lodge.” She loved decorating her home and putting on weddings and events. After her divorce, she continued to operate the BnB. This was a difficult time in her life, and she encountered many obstacles, but her fun-loving and generous personality attracted people to her. Although she came to regret some of it later, she traveled, lived large, and went on great adventures. Through her BnB and her involvement in tennis, horses, politics, and her church, she cultivated many communities of friends, mostly because she was kooky and generous and curious about other people. Her close friends considered her a great listener and also “the most fun person they had ever met.”
Behind her devil-may-care persona, Nilsa had a sophisticated and thoughtful side. She looked to poetry for inspiration, she had eclectic tastes in music, and she loved doing research. She was also a fearless advocate for the issues that she believed in, at various points working for property rights, to stop wind development in her neighborhood, and to protest restrictions on county businesses. She was incredibly proud of her son, who helped her run the BnB, and in whom she instilled her values of work ethic and education. She loved to watch him compete.
Nilsa was focused on developing an outward-bound type business and improving her home, but COVID blocked her plans. When her sister Ellen became bedridden, Nilsa was the person Ellen most wanted with her, and Nilsa committed every evening to bring a laugh. She sold her BnB this year and was planning more travel and tennis. She played and won a tennis tournament the weekend before she had surgery for ovarian cancer.
Nilsa unexpectedly died of complications of her illness on Dec. 23, 2021. She leaves behind her broken-hearted family, including her mother Sharon McNamee Nippolt, her son Sebastian Zeman, sisters Teresa Nippolt, Kate Huttemann (Mark), and Anne Bryant (Clark), and nieces and nephews Bianca Jackson (Kate), Stanley and Ava Jackson, Robert Mannering (Kirsten), Spencer Vetter (Morgan), Christian Vetter, Amelia Vetter, Tessy Vetter, Rebecca Wolf, Isabel Wolf, Nina Huttemann, Cole Huttemann, Cullen Bryant, Michael Kremkau (Angela), and Steve Wolf. She was predeceased by her father, Robert John Nippolt and her sister, Ellen Nippolt.
Her burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Iddlewilde Cemetery in Hood River. Arrangements made by Anderson’s Tribute Center.
To plant a tree in memory of Nilsa Nippolt as a living tribute, please visit Tribute Store.
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