Obituary of Nancy Meade

Nancy Meade was born in New York on June 12, 1917. At her passing, on June 22, 2016, she was 99 years old. Nancy was a resident of Great Neck, New York. She was the child of William and Mary King, both of whom were immigrants from Ireland. Her father was the custodian of an estate in Kings Point, New York. She was the second eldest in a family of six children: the late Mary T., William, and Catherine, and Joan Gardner (Leon) and Thomas King, who survive her. Nancy was educated in local schools. After graduation from high school, she studied at the Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School and worked for a time as a secretary in New York City. In December 1944, she married Lt. Robert C. Meade, who was also from Great Neck, at St. Aloysius Church in Great Neck. After their marriage they settled in Great Neck and stayed there in the same house for the rest of their lives. After the war Lt. Meade left the armed forces and became an attorney in private life, although he was called back for an additional tour of duty during the Korean War. Nancy became a homemaker. She and Robert had six children, all of whom survive her: Dennis (Lisa), Mary Jo (Shelly), Brian (Doreen), Philip (Liz), Stephen, and Robert Jr. Nancy was a devoted mother and a hard-working one, as she had to be since the children were born over an 11-year span. She and her husband made their home a place of love. Home was also filled with laughter, which was very important to them both. She had a sunny and positive outlook on life, which affected everything she did. She refused to let the troubles of life get her down and discouraged self-pity at all times. She was generous, kind, and friendly to all. She did not know how to look down on people. She did not speak ill of others. Even while carrying the burdens of a large family, Nancy found time to build many friendships over the years. She enjoyed other people and was always happy in the company of friends and when she could make new ones. She loved to ice skate, swim and fish. Even in her eighties she was fishing from the shore on the eastern end of Long Island, where she and the family vacationed for many years. She loved flowers and birds. She had bird feeders outside her rear window and loved to watch the birds feed there year round. She liked to hook rugs and was an able cook, a skill she learned from her mother. At a certain point her husband became active in local politics and she devoted herself to helping him in that effort. He ran for office several times, which no doubt was a scary thing for both of them as parents with lots of bills coming in. She threw herself into the campaigning and, being a cheerful people-person, she was very good at it. It was hard not to support her husband once you had met Nancy. Robert felt that she would have been the better and more natural politician had things been different, but she had her own calling. Busy though she was with all of these things, Nancy found time to involve herself in religious and community activities. She was a lifelong member of St. Aloysius Church and was very active in many church activities over the decades. Her faith was very important to her. She was a board member for almost 25 years of the Open Door Parent-Child Caring Center in Great Neck. She served for a term as Recording Secretary of the organization and was active in its fundraising activities. Open Door was a charity created in 1981 by the National Council of Jewish Women and the Visiting Nurse Association. Nancy also served as the Recording Secretary of the Visiting Nurse Association for 41 years. She was an active member of the Woman’s Club of Great Neck for decades. When she committed to a cause or a person, Nancy stuck around. Her husband Robert passed away in June 1996, after almost 52 years of marriage. She passed away the day before what would have been the 20th anniversary of his passing.