Nancy A. Anater, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully in her Maitland, FL home on September 18, 2024. She was 90 years old.
Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, on January 22, 1934, Nancy was the daughter of William Walker and Guellma Gevene Stewart, sister to brothers Bill and Ray.
In 1954, she attended a dance where she met Raymond Anater, sparking a lifelong romance.
Shortly after their engagement, Ray was drafted into the Army and sent overseas. Nancy made her first ever plane trip to meet Ray in Germany where they married and began their family.
Upon their return to Pennsylvania, they settled in the small eastern town of Akron, raised their large family, and moved to Florida in their retirement years.
Ray and Nancy shared an enduring bond for 65 years, rooted in their Catholic faith and deep love for each other, until Ray’s passing in 2020.
Nancy was an artist with a keen eye and appreciation for beauty. She excelled in pastel, oil and watercolor. An avid cross-stitcher, she leaves behind a treasure trove of her creations, all reminders of a life well lived.
Nancy was a veracious reader and lifelong learner, passions she passed on to her children. Whether preparing a Sunday roast or her legendary Christmas Eve feasts, she made family meals a sacred tradition. Nancy’s ability to turn a challenge into an adventure made family vacations in the Canadian wilderness the most fun any child could imagine. Fascinated by all living things, she loved birds, nurturing her plants and she welcomed all manner of animals her children insisted on having in the house – a raccoon, pigeon, snakes, a rabbit, just to name a few.
To her children, Nancy will always be remembered as the embodiment of kindness and warmth, keenly interested in each of their lives. She was a prayer warrior extraordinaire.
To her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she sent the best cards, presents, and shared a love of sweets and bubblegum. With them she could love with cheerful abandon.
Nancy leaves behind her seven children: Raymond (Cyndee), Matthew (Diana), Adele Bruno (Louis), Thomas (Mary), Paul, David, and Stephen (Christine), 23 grandchildren, and 30 great-grandchildren.
Hers truly was a life well lived, she is greatly missed by those fortunate to have known her.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Annunciation Catholic Church at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 28, 2024.