Nancy Garner

Nancy Wicks Garner, of Cary, NC, died on April 21, 2022, after a short period of declining health. She had been thirty years old for the past fifty-two years of her life. Whether she was playing video games with her grandson or dancing at a family wedding last year to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”, she always found a reason to smile. Of course, she also did it while being fashionably dressed and having an impeccable manicure. She exemplified the fact that women don’t become old; they just get better.

Born an overachiever in Miami, FL, she started taking piano lessons with her older sister, Jean, at a young age. Their mother had them take lessons because she’d never gotten to take piano lessons as a child. It was a wise decision, because their mother had a heretofore unknown “piano” gene that she passed down to her daughters. Nancy and her sister excelled, performing on a local radio station together, winning competitions, and generally making other child pianists jealous. They later gained a brother, Sanford “Sandy” and sister, Kathy. Both were loved deeply.

Never content to excel at one thing, she was a member of the Edison Cadets of Edison High School where she threw flags without hitting people. She also had numerous friends. After winning a college scholarship in music, which really wasn’t surprising, she attended Florida State University. While there, she studied works by Chopin for four years under the tutelage of Franciszek Zachara, a Polish-American composer, educator, and international performing artist. She was also a member of Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI) International Music Fraternity. After obtaining a degree in music, she began teaching in the Miami public school system.

Later she met Howard Garner at church and they began dating soon afterwards. He was a smart man because he asked her to marry him; he was a lucky man because she said “yes”. They married on Sept. 15, 1962. Nancy continued her teaching her career after they had their first child, Gina. She was passionate about educating children. During the Chicago Riots of 1968, she walked through smoke as one of the few white teachers to instruct students at an integrated school. Never one to dwell on the negative, she focused on how she had wonderful coworkers and wore three-inch high heel shoes when teaching her students. Four years later, Nancy gave birth to her second, and last child, Karin, during a hail storm and a nurse’s strike.

While Nancy was a successful music teacher, she could’ve had a career as a top salesperson. Her husband’s career forced them to relocate frequently, requiring her to sell the positives of living in various parts of the country. She clearly did this better than her husband, who sometimes resorted to bribes. They moved from Illinois to Ft. Dodge, IA, for six months before heading south to Antioch, TN. They lived there for six years. When she wasn’t teaching in school, operating her part-time piano studio, or working as a church choir director, she cooked meals from scratch, sewed costumes, chauffeured her daughters to their various activities, and encouraged them in everything they attempted.

Six years later, they relocated to Contoocook (don’t try to pronounce it), NH, population 1500. Her selling tactics worked because, as she’d pointed out previously to her daughters, there was a bunch of snow and they could build snowmen. There was, however, more snow than expected and made it hard to find their house. Her husband built a four-feet high wooden music note and nailed it to the front door. This way her piano students could arrive at the right location (i.e., “the house with the note on the door”) for their lessons. In addition to teaching privately, she also taught at a local school and worked as a church choir director. She also continued being a “Super Mom” to her daughters and an amazing wife.

Six years later, in 1984, they moved to Cary, NC. It was, Nancy announced, their last move. Needing a break from teaching for more than two decades in public schools, she became a secretary at Bell Northern Research (later Nortel). In one day, she tripled her salary. While Nancy didn’t work part-time as a church choir director, she couldn’t resist forming and directing the BNR Chorus. Years later, when Nortel started laying off people, Nancy started her own piano studio on a part-time basis. So, when she did get laid off, Nancy began working full-time at her piano studio. She also started working as a church choir director again.

In later years, during her “working” retirement, Nancy travelled frequently with her husband. They cherished and spoiled their grandchildren, Lisa Beene and Andrew Nielson. After her husband’s death, Nancy got a dog named Humphrey. Their exploits, which included walking Humphrey down the street while riding in her scooter, were legendary in the subdivision where they lived. She also cooked his meals because, well, why not?

Nancy went to heaven and was reunited with her husband. She is survived by her daughters, Gina Garner and her significant boyfriend, Tim McNulty; Karin Garner Nielson and her husband, Steve; granddaughter, Lisa Beene and her husband, Tyler, and daughter, Reese; and her grandson, Andrew Nielson. Other survivors include her sister and brother-in-law, Jean and Paul Beckham; brother-in-law, Dan Davidson; nieces and nephews; and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, Sanford and Marjorie Wicks; sister, Kathy Wicks Davidson; and brother, Sanford Wicks, Jr.

It's been said that you only live once, but when you do it right, it’s a success. That’s exactly what she did.

A funeral will be held on Saturday, June 11, at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home in Cary, NC. Since Nancy lived in many places and had so many wonderful friends, celebration of life ceremonies will be held in Murfreesboro, TN, and Florida later this year. In honor of her memory, please make a contribution to the Wake County SPCA.