Nancy Helen McLawhorn Rhue

Nancy was born in the small town of Ayden, North Carolina. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a tobacco farmer. When World War II began, the family moved to Norfolk, Virginia where her father was employed at the Norfolk Naval Air Station. Growing up in Norfolk, Nancy loved to sing, to dance and to be with friends.

Singing in church choirs allowed Nancy to express her love of music. Nancy became the soloist at most of her girlfriends’ weddings. She studied voice at Longwood University where she graduated in 1956 with a major in voice and a degree as a teacher.

Nancy, and her future husband, Bill, attended the same middle school where her mother taught English. They began dating in high school – a practice that continued throughout college even though their schools were in separate parts of Virginia. Nancy became the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi at the University of Virginia where Bill was a member of that fraternity.

Upon completion of her first teaching assignment after graduation, Nancy made her first airplane flight to travel alone from Norfolk to Boston, Massachusetts to join Bill who was serving in the army. They were married at Fort Devens, Massachusetts on February 24, 1956. They celebrated their sixty-fourth anniversary this year.

After military service, the couple returned to Norfolk, Virginia. The couple eventually moved to Fort Worth where Nancy was a role model for her son and a daughter while being active in church choirs and multiple singing groups including the Symphony Singers of Fort Worth. She was twice president of the United Methodist Women at Meadowbrook Methodist Church in Fort Worth. In Lakeway, Nancy was a member of the Lakeway Wildflowers, a woman’s barbershop group, and a member of the Lakeway Sing Along cast. She was a long-time member of the PEO Sisterhood as a member of Chapter CH in Fort Worth and Chapter HC in Austin. She was a charter member of Chapter IC in Lakeway.

Survivors: Husband Bill; son Captain William Rhue, USNR and his wife Patricia, Daughter Beth Lorraine Marso and her husband Tom, Daughter-in-law Helen Rhue, Grandchildren: Dr. Kathryn Coleman, Emily Kramer, William Alexander Rhue, Ashley Sikander, John Marso , Sister Emily Brooks of Suffolk, Virginia, Brother-in-law John Galloway in New Orleans.

The family expresses their gratitude to the caring and compassionate Longhorn Village staff and to the Kindred Hospice personnel who cared for Nancy.

Due to Covid-19, there will not be a memorial service.