Nancy Jo Christenbury

Nancy J. Christenbury passed into eternal life to be with her Lord Tuesday, July 23, 2013. The relatives and friends of Nancy are invited to attend her funeral service Friday, July 26, 2013, in J. HENRY STUHR, INC., MOUNT PLEASANT CHAPEL, 1494 Mathis Ferry Road, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina at 11:00 am. Burial will follow in Mount Pleasant Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends Friday, in Stuhr's Mount Pleasant Chapel from 10:00 am until time of the service.

Nancy was born January 17, 1933, in Salisbury, North Carolina, the daughter of Henry Blease Clyburn, Jr. and Sarah Ynez Holbrooks Clyburn. She was raised in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and graduated from Kannapolis High School in 1951. She attended Queens College in Charlotte, North Carolina and Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. She met her husband, William Ray Christenbury of Mt. Mourne, North Carolina, son of Marvin Luther and Lena Nantz Christenbury, at the popular Christenbury-Nantz Reunion in Mooresville, North Carolina in the fall of 1952. She married "Chris" on December 12, 1953 in a double wedding ceremony with her sister, Pat and her husband, William Ray (Bill) Gabriel, at the First Presbyterian Church of Kannapolis, North Carolina.

As their marriage began, Nancy was employed in the purchasing department at Cannon Mills in Kannapolis while Chris attended college. Chris graduated from Catawba College in 1956, when he and Nancy went to work for E. I. DuPont de Nemours Co., Inc. - Chris as a Chemist, and Nancy as a Secretary, until her first child was born in the spring of 1957, when she became a full-time wife and mother. During his 31-year career with DuPont, Chris, Nancy, and their growing family relocated to Woodbury, New Jersey; Nashville, Tennessee; Madison, Tennessee; Glassboro, New Jersey; Tacoma, Washington; Newark, Delaware, and finally to the place they have loved calling home since June, 1974, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Nancy happily followed her husband throughout his career and never complained when "Uncle DuPont" called on the family to once again relocate. She became quite adept at packing up and selling one house and buying and moving into a new one in a very short period of time.

Nancy was proud and happy to be a wife and stay-at-home mother, and her husband and children are grateful for the many years she devoted herself to them. She was also active in various Presbyterian churches and school PTAs, as well as in several national and local political campaigns. She returned to work in 1985 and retired from Gwynn's of Mount Pleasant in 2000. But her favorite job and the thing that she did best in this world was cooking southern style for family and friends, who all agree there will never be another who can do it the way she did!

Nancy is survived by her husband of 59 years; her daughter Cathy Christenbury Valerio and her husband Mark of Mount Pleasant, SC; her daughter Carol Ann Christenbury Embler and her husband Jim of Mount Pleasant, SC; her son William Ray (Chris) Christenbury, Jr. and his wife Lou Lou of Rock Hill, SC; and her son Charles Blease Christenbury, Sr. and his wife Mary Sue of Kings Mountain, NC. The seven grandchildren are Michael Cumbee, Charlie Christenbury, Daniel Christenbury, Beau Christenbury, Hannah Christenbury, Gracie Christenbury, and Rachel Christenbury. Nancy was preceded in death by her father, mother and sister.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, 5900 Core Road, Suite 504, North Charleston, SC 29406.