Nancy Elizabeth (Yarkey) Hunady, 78, of Ocean Isle Beach, NC passed away peacefully on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at Lower Cape Fear Life Care Center in Wilmington.

Nancy was born to Frank & Louise Yarkey on June 13, 1946, in Springfield, MA.  After graduating from Commerce High School in 1964 she worked at Smith & Wesson as a secretary and at Sears where she met her husband, Denis Hunady.  They married on April 12, 1969, and made Westfield, MA their home.  She was blessed to be able to stay at home and raise their three children Jennifer, Pamela and Matthew, and was very involved in their school and outside activities as a volunteer.  Once her children were grown, she went back to work as a dental receptionist, retiring in 2000 to travel the country with Denis in their motorhome, eventually calling Ocean Isle Beach home.

Not one to sit still, Nancy enjoyed working part time at ACE hardware and Callahans where she continued to make friends with everyone she met.  Nancy was a stranger to no one and loved to get together with friends to play cards, enjoy dinners, laugh and entertain.  She was an avid crafter and enjoyed diamond art, sewing and trying new crafts.  She was the glue that held her whole family together, opening her house to anyone passing through town for the night of just dinner, and exemplified beauty and strength, both as a mother and person.  Nancy will forever be missed by all those who knew and loved her.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Frank & Louise Yarkey, and by her beloved husband, Denis.  She is survived by two sisters, Sue (Yarkey) Flanagan, husband Jim, & Lin Yarkey, and two brothers, Raymond Yarkey, wife Linda, & Ken Yarkey, wife Sandy, and also by her beloved children, Jennifer (Hunady) Knoerzer and her husband Bob, Winter Springs, FL; Pamela Hunady and her fiancé Tim Stein, Denver, NC; Matthew Hunady and his wife Brandy, Bay Minette, AL, and her two grandsons, Joshua & Ryan Knoerzer as well as many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held at the Sunset Ridge Clubhouse, at the intersection of Endeavor Way and Sevilleen Drive, Sunset Beach, NC  28468, on Sunday, 1/19/2025 from 2:00pm-4:00pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly asks for donations to be made to the Lower Cape Fear Life Center Foundation.