Nancy A. Ellis

Nancy Andrews Ellis, 90, of Asheville, loving wife and mother, heard the Lord’s gentle voice calling February 21, 2022 at CarePartners Solace Center. She was comforted by the many prayers, visits and well wishes of family and friends who showed such loving support throughout her cancer diagnosis and treatment. Our Lord and Savior has now come to take His servant up to her eternal home. Rejoice!

She is survived by her husband, Herbert. She is also survived by one daughter, Melissa E. Swarbrick of Aberdeen, North Carolina, and a number of nephews and nieces. Her other daughter, Dr. Marjorie Kathleen Ellis, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, passed away from COVID in April 2020.

Born February 17, 1932, in Spencer, North Carolina, she was the daughter of the late H. Clyde and Erie Fay Kizziah Andrews. She attended public school in Spencer and then went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude from Flora MacDonald College, Red Springs, North Carolina, in 1954, majoring in History and Bible, and later earned her Masters Degree in History from Appalachian State Teachers College, Boone, North Carolina.

Mrs. Ellis was a long time active member of Arden Presbyterian Church and taught Sunday school all her adult life as well as serving in all aspects of the church including Vacation Bible School, youth activities, Elder, President of the Women of the Church, church historian and various Christian Women’s Club positions and Honorary Life Member of the Women of the Church of the Presbyterian Church U.S. She faithfully served (oftentimes repeatedly) in every volunteer position. She delivered Meals On Wheels and served in many other volunteer positions. Mrs. Ellis was a member of Arden First Baptist Church at the time of her death.

Before her marriage to Herbert Hamilton Ellis on July 6, 1963, in Spencer, North Carolina, she taught Bible and American History in public schools in Mooresville and Spencer, North Carolina, and continued as a substitute teacher in Buncombe County schools for many years. She was truly dedicated to the education of her students and attempted to instill Christian morals in each one’s life journey. She taught Tri-Hi-Y, Sunday school, and Christian Women’s Club classes for over seventy years. In 1972 she unselfishly donated a kidney to her five year old daughter Kathleen in an experimental but successful pediatric transplant procedure at the University of Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

She traveled extensively, having made several trips abroad with her husband, including the Holy Land in 1996. Several trips were made to European countries, including East Germany and Berlin when it was under Communist control; quite an experience crossing the Iron Curtain and returning safely with two small children in tow.

She was well loved by her family and friends. All her life she was open to God’s Will, supporting and working tirelessly for her church and charitable organizations. She also had an amazing memory, and never failed to send birthday, anniversary, Christmas, and get-well cards to all she knew. She believed in the power of prayer. She had a passion for teaching the Bible and sharing her testimony of the love of Jesus Christ. She has now been called home to Heaven and has been graciously given eternal life through her faith. All who knew her thought of her as a person with wonderful gifts of caring, teaching and generosity. She had an unflagging will to forgive and not judge. Through her dedication to Him, she brought many souls to our Savior, Jesus Christ. She worked to the end; she surely won the Crown of Righteousness.

She and her husband tried to teach their daughters the values of honesty, kindness, truthfulness, and respect for others. She believed:

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children.
One of these is roots, the other wings.

She was truly the optimist, always finding the positive in every situation. A more affectionate and supportive wife and mother could not be found. She will be greatly missed by all who loved her, and everyone will each carry a part of her memory and spirit forward. Her kind and gentle spirit will live through everyone who knew her.

In 2020 she was diagnosed with throat cancer and subsequently underwent extensive surgery and both radiation and immunotherapy treatments for well over a year. True to her character, she remained stoic through her surgery and treatments. God saw her getting tired and cure was not to be. So, He put His arms around her and whispered, “Come to Me. Well done, my good and faithful servant.” She fought the good fight, she finished the race, she kept the faith.

A celebration of her life will be held Friday, February 25, 2022 at 1:00 pm at Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian with Rev. Scott Lynch officiating. Interment will be private at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher, North Carolina.

In lieu of flowers, for those that wish, memorials may be made to Samaritan’s Purse, P. O. Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607.