Nancy Reay

“Your life was a blessing. Your memory a treasure.”

Nancy passed away in the care of South Cheshire Hospital on 29th April 2022 aged 95 years.

Beloved Wife of the late Howard. Devoted Mum of Glenys & Terry. Cherished Gran of Paul, Louise, Michelle, Andrew & Nina.

Great Gran of Tyler, Keegan, George, Harrison, Chantella, Joel, Will & Oscar. Great Great Great Gran of Noah.

Loving Sister to Joan & the late Roy, Geoff, Derek, Maureen & Lily. Aunty to Stephen, Craig & Simon. Sister in law to Gordon & Ethel.

Her funeral took place on Thursday 12th May 2022 at Crematorium Chapel at 12.15pm

Donations are to a personal choice of your own in memory of Nancy.

For further information and to offer your condolences, please telephone our funeral home on 01270 584447

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Nancy was born on 4th September 1926, the only daughter born to her
parents Mary and Sydney Evanson. Her whole life was lived in and
around Crewe.
She was always very artistic and had a multitude of talents which she
could call on. A talented seamstress, she was able to create outfits for
herself. She had creative hands and a good eye which she put to
effective use in her job as a window dresser in her work at Diamonds
store.
Just after the war ended Nancy met Howard and as the time passed,
they began to plan for their future life together. They were young but
they were determined that they would be together, they were married in
1948.
Their marriage was blessed with two children, Terry and Glenys. Nancy
stayed at home to look after them only returning to work when they were
older. In 1957 they had moved onto the Marshfield estate, some of the
first residents there and it became their forever home.
A new house allowed Nancy to be as creative as she could be, it was
like a blank canvass and her creative nature ensured that her house was
the neatest, smartest and cleanest it could be. Nothing would stop her
from a bit of impromptu decorating when Howard was at work either.
She was a great cook and was happy to pass on her skills to anyone
who asked, but she could be bossy, so woe betide you if you didn’t get
thing just right the first time.
With Howard working for the railway the family made full use of the free
passes and took their holidays in Wales, at their Grans caravan, or
venturing further afield to Cornwall – where Glenys always remembers
arriving very early, having travelled overnight, and going straight into one
of the cafes for a good breakfast. It was all part of the holiday. They also
visited the Isle of Man where they rented rooms in a guest house.
These were simple seaside holidays, the sort every working class family
saved hard for all year and took the greatest of pleasure from. Times
when the sea seemed bluer, and the sun always shone – even if it didn’t!
and memories were created which were truly cherished by everyone and
were spoken of with great warmth even to this day.

In the 1980s Howard and Nancy got their own caravan in Pensarn in
North Wales. This meant that Howard would spend the whole summer
there, along with Mitzi the dog, returning home every two weeks to mow
the lawn and pick up his pension. Nancy would join him, usually with a
number of the grandchildren, once the schools had broken up.
Family was everything to Nancy – she was always interested what was
going on in their lives and Paul, Louise, Michelle, Andrew and Nina were
always more than happy to share their dreams with her. If she could help
them in any way she would, she was generous to a fault. As the years
moved on eight great grandchildren: Tyler, Keegan, George, Harrison,
Chantella, Joel, Will and Oscar and one great grandchild, Noah ensured
that Nancy’s legacy would continue to grow and they will carry her
memory forward as they grow.
After retiring Nancy became a founder member of the Marshfield
Residents Association, based at the Marshfield Centre on the Georges,
and was involved in the creation of the Castaways shop on West Street.
The community, her community, was very much at the heart of
everything she did. In years gone by Nancy had helped decorate the
floats for Crewe Carnival and putting her needle skills to good use once
more, made costumes for dancers and performers alike. She always
wanted everyone to be the best person they could be and she worked
tirelessly to help that become a reality.
She loved playing Bingo, mainly at the Majestic on High Street in Crewe.
When it became a little too much to go out and play, she embraced new
technology and played it on line on her own lap top – purchased by the
family as a Christmas present.
Nancy was the matriarch of her family, she had the determination and
heart of a lioness, and was fiercely protective of each and every one of
them – but mark this, if you stepped out of line, she would let you know
that she was displeased. She had a dry sense of humour and a wicked
turn of phrase; she could be judgemental but deep down she kept an
eye on each and every one.

May she rest in peace.