Nancy Horton of Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia passed away June 5, 2022, after a long and courageous battle with leukemia. She grew up near Fairfield, California on her family’s ranch. Her parents, Wes and Doris Pangburn and her sister Susan Blake preceded in passing.
Following high school, Nancy attended California State University in Chico, California, where she met and married John. June 8 would have been their 54-year wedding anniversary. John’s Navy career took Nancy to various duty stations along the east coast where she learned to do fun things like shovel snow in Brunswick, Maine, and then back and forth across the country several times to California, and the Washington, DC area. She managed each move with finesse.
Nancy was devoted to her daughters, Christy Horton and Kim Adams and adored her granddaughters Carly and Allison Adams. Son-in-law Jared was another one of her favorites. She handled the rigors of being a Navy wife with poise and determination including the many times when her husband was deployed overseas. Raising Christy with her special needs made Nancy fully qualified for sainthood.
Life after the Navy found Nancy as the chief financial officer of a family business where she tracked and squeezed every penny precisely. Following retirement, the family relocated to Smith Mountain Lake where she was involved in several activities. She volunteered at the Discovery Shop in support of the American Cancer Society and SML Good Neighbors. Nancy was particularly proud of the scholarship fund she established at Good Neighbors. The She Doo’s jet-ski club, with their weekly rides and events, was another fun activity she enjoyed. She was also a consummate shopper who loved finding incredible bargains.
Nancy was a social creature who made friends easily and was always ready for having fun. She refused to be stressed. She developed life-long friends early in her childhood and those friends as well as her many SML friends provided key support and good cheer throughout her 18-year battle with cancer.
A celebration of life will be held July 16, 2022, at Patmos Church Fellowship Hall in Huddleston, VA at 2pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the SML Good Neighbors Nancy Horton Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 2, Moneta, Virginia 24121. Online condolences may be made at www.tharpfuneralhome.com.