Nancy D. Meador

Nancy Vivian Dunstan Meador, 80, of Agawam, MA, passed away Thursday evening at 3:35pm, January 25, 2018 at Baystate Medical Center. Nancy was born on June 3, 1937 in Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.  She was one of two children of the late John Harry Dunstan originally of Slidell, LA, and Virginia Wysong originally of Lewisburg, TN. She was predeceased by her husband, Donald J. Meador of Greenville, SC and daughter Diane Dube of Franklin, NH.  Nancy is survived by a brother John Dunstan of Marietta, GA, son and daughter-in-law Mark and Christina Meador of Avon, CT, and daughters and sons-in-law, Christy and Ken Tamsin of Blythewood, SC, Carol and Keith Kruser of Agawam, MA, and Lynda Meador of Atlanta, GA, and 12 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. As a young girl, Nancy delighted the adults and her cousins with a mixture of sweetness and adventure. She did, however, have an underlying streak of steely independence. Nancy was the head cheerleader at Atlanta’s South West High School, but married the captain of the football team at the arch rival Brown High School at age 18. She was one of the first five women to attend Clemson University when it went coed in 1955. Nancy then raised five children and managed 21 moves in support of her family and husband’s career (including to Memphis, TN, Louisville, KY, Richmond, VA, Hudson, OH, Bloomfield Hills, MI, Valparaiso, IN, Palatine, IL, Attleboro, MA, East Greenwich, RI, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Atlanta, GA, and Longmeadow, MA). Along the way, she found time to volunteer for her local church, the PTA, Meals on Wheels, as a Brownie leader, as an actor in the local theater, and various other organizations. She pretended to not be competitive when playing tennis, bridge or bowling but we all knew she was a fierce competitor. She went through life with a positive attitude and did not let worries get in her way. She learned to be a fine cook but refused to be hemmed in by a recipe. She adored children and they adored her back as she became the matriarch for a large extended family. Nancy knew just how to relate to children without condescension, with honesty, compassion and humor in a way that infused them with love and resilience. Nancy especially reveled in the imagination of the younger children which matched her own. She inevitably helped care for so many grandchildren and became so dear to them that they need to be mentioned here: Whitney Ellis and Cabot Raymond, and Victoria Ellis, Matthew and Jill Tamsin, and Jaime Tamsin, Carolyn Dube Bowers and Chris Bowers, Grace, Justin and Marlo Meador, Dakota and Sierra Kruser, Maxwell and Jamerson Wicker and great grandchildren Brady Giel, Kyra and Joseph Tamsin. Calling hours will be Saturday, February 3rd from 10 am - 12 pm at Colonial Forastiere Funeral Home on Main Street in Agawam, MA with a memorial service immediately following at 12 PM. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children, 516 Carew Street, Springfield, MA 01104

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