Nancy Rhoads Hess

Nancy Rhoads Hess went home to be with her Lord and Savior on Friday January 24, 2025 after her courageous battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Born on May 14, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York, she was the daughter of Ellsworth and Madeleine Rhoads. As her father was career military, the family moved often during her childhood, living in Maine, Alaska and Florida until finally settling in Columbia, South Carolina where Nancy graduated from Dreher High School in 1958. Upon her graduation, she attended Columbia Business College and began a longstanding career as an Executive Secretary until eventually retiring from Westinghouse Electric.

As an only child, Nancy developed a love for all of God’s creatures at a young age that only strengthened with time. One of her favorite pastimes included birdwatching where she would especially look for bluebirds, cardinals and her favorite, hummingbirds.

Nancy found the greatest joy in her faith, family and friends. She was a member of Mt. Horeb Lutheran Church where she sang in the choir and was an active participant of her Church Circle.  She shared her faith through constant service to others and showed kindness, grace and love to everyone she met.

Nancy was a loving and devoted wife, mother and grandmother.  She often reminisced about times spend with family and never missed the opportunity to be present with the ones she loved.  She was lovingly given the name “Granny Go-Go” as she was always going somewhere, rarely without at least one of her grandchildren in tow.

Left to cherish her memory are her husband of 64 years, Craig J. Hess, children Alena Coulter (David), Heidi Bradshaw (Scott), and Kyle Hess (Cher), seven grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren. Along with her parents, she was reunited in Heaven with a grandson, Matthew Lyn Coulter and a granddaughter, Meredith Coulter Dial.

A memorial service will be held at Mt. Horeb Lutheran Church in Chapin on Saturday February 1, 2025 at 11:00am. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Alzheimer's Association at www.alz.org.

The family would like to extend their sincere thanks to Wyman Kessler, Anne Williams and Lutheran Hospice for the care and comfort they provided Nancy during her time at Lowman Home.