Nancy Edwards

Dr. Nancy Claire Edwards, 78, died in her home in Charlotte, NC, on November 22, 2014. Born on October 16, 1936, in Montgomery, Alabama, to Dr. Warren Stephens Edwards and Inez Norton Edwards, Nancy grew up on her family’s farm in Auburn, Alabama, where she learned to love the natural world. Majoring in biology at Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA, followed from that early passion.

After working as Director Public Relations at Agnes Scott, Nancy returned to her chosen discipline, earning both her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in zoology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her infectious curiosity about her field made her an inspiring biology professor for three decades at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

In 1982, she earned the university’s Award for Teaching Excellence. She led generations of students to embrace her field and to achieve. She regularly shared with her students a favorite quotation suggesting that even though dealing with facts “analytically and impersonally” was the special purpose of scientists, the sum of their discoveries should rightly appeal to their emotions since all who quest grow “to appreciate and relish the marvels they unravel.”

She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Mortar Board, and the Society for Developmental Biology; with her students she was an active participant in the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology and the North Carolina Academy of Science. She helped establish and served as co-advisor to the university’s chapter of the honor society Beta Beta Beta.

Nancy’s leadership skills, sense of fairness, and habit of independent thinking developed early. Girl Scout activities filled her childhood and, as a young adult, she served as a camp counselor at Camp Juliet Low. These qualities were again in evidence when she served as Student Government President at Agnes Scott College and subsequently as she contributed to shaping programs and policies in the early years of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She served as President of the Charlotte Area Agnes Scott Alumnae Club, served on her college’s Alumnae Board, and played an instrumental role in the Eastern Coalition of Neighborhoods, which was involved in the successful rerouting of I-485. In each of these endeavors, she evinced her gift for keeping participants focused on the core issues, always with grace and often with gentle humor.

She was predeceased by her sister, Helen Edwards Propst. She is survived by her long-time friend and housemate Mary Beth Thomas; her brother-in-law Dr. Charles R. Propst; and nieces and nephews - Charles Sims Propst and his wife Anne, of Greenville, SC; Barbara Propst Spell and her husband David, of Sullivan's Island, SC; and Warren Edwards Propst and his wife Donna, of Columbia, SC.

Always special to her, and definitely she to them, were her “grand”-nieces and nephews: Chad Propst and his wife Jess, Riviere Propst, Helen Spell, Celia Spell, Charles Propst, James Propst, and Edwin Propst. Nancy often refused to accept the more traditional “great” aunt, preferring to use “grand,” instead. And that she was.

A memorial service will be held at the Montreat Memorial Garden, Montreat, NC, early in 2015. Memorial gifts may be made to Agnes Scott College (https://give.agnesscott.edu/) or Hospice and Palliative Care Charlotte Region (https://hpccr.thankyou4caring.org/). McEwen Funeral Services, 7428 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd, Charlotte, NC 28227, is serving the family.