Q&A Nikki DeLoach

Her Hallmark movies end happily ever after. How this actress finds hope in the real-life story of her father’s dementia

- Celeste McCauley

Q. You grew up in Blackshear, Georgia, population: 3,500. How did your upbringing shape your faith?

A. I was really free-range—that’s the beauty of growing up in a teeny, teeny town. I loved church, Bible study and church camp in the summer. That’s where I first started performing. When I was three years old, I remember sitting in Sunday school and feeling I was wrapped in this blanket of light and warmth and love. I never really knew what that was until I felt it as an adult and was like, “That’s the presence of God!”

Q. Tell us about your dad.

A. My dad worked in our family’s timber and trucking business. He was a logger and drove 18-wheelers. He worked six days a week, got up at five in the morning to work, then came back home to take my sister and me to school. He was my basketball coach and drove me to voice lessons. He always made time for my brother, sister and me. Now you might be sitting outside the school for 30 minutes, and he might come swinging in on two wheels, but he always showed up. I could not have asked for a better father.

Q. In 2017, your newborn son needed heart surgery. Then, the same week, your dad was diagnosed with dementia at age 62?