Nancy Lou Cornwell, 85, of Kilmarnock, Va., died at home Friday, December 8, 2023 surrounded by her family.
She was born a smalltown girl who crisscrossed the USA and the world with her husband Frank of 67 years. Nancy was always quick to credit her life with Frank for exposing her to places and experiences she only dreamed about while growing up in rural Cherokee County, Kansas.
Born on March 1, 1938, Nancy was the oldest child of Alfred and Edna Stanley. Siblings Freida (deceased), Martha, and Carson “Buck” (deceased) followed. Nancy also had three halfbrothers who predeceased her: Billy, Gordon, and Victor. Her father, Alfred Stanley, was a WWI Army veteran who served in France.
Nancy’s resilient and independent nature was evident from a young age. She got her first job at 13, using her earnings to purchase books for high school. She met her future husband Frank, an Air Force Airman, at 17 but insisted on finishing school before becoming his wife. Together, they moved more than a dozen times and spent an 18-month stint in Madagascar when Frank was a NASA contractor during the Apollo Space Program.
Nancy and Frank finally settled down in Florida in 1971. An entrepreneur at heart, Nancy launched a catering business, worked in food service management, and later owned and operated a TCBY franchise in The Villages, Lady Lake. Working with young people and teaching them skillsets they could use throughout their working lives was a source of pride and gratification for Nancy.
The Cornwells moved from Florida to Bay Walk in Kilmarnock last August to be closer to their daughter Susan and extended family. Nancy was a voracious reader, a passionate gardener, and a devoted follower of cooking shows.
She was a loving mother to her three children: Susan (James McFadden, Warsaw), Edwin (deceased), and Rebecca (Roger Sharp, Indiana). Nancy is also survived by four grandchildren, Timothy (Shawna), Jennifer (Shaun), David (Kassi), and Morgan (Brock), and seven greatgrandchildren, Madelynn, Aiden, Noah, Henry, Quinn, Ellis, and Robert.
The family will celebrate Nancy’s life in Florida in the spring of 2024.
Instead of flowers, please consider a donation to Hospice of Virginia, Tappahannock. The family would like to thank Dr. June Daffeh, Bay Internists, the Rappahannock General Hospital ER, and the doctors and nursing staff at Bon Secours Memorial Regional Hospital for their compassion and care of their mother and grandmother, Nancy Cornwell.