Nancy Daniels Long

She has been reunited in Heaven with her parents; her husband; her stillborn daughter; her sons, James Long Jr. and Larry Long; her daughter-in-law, Tammy Long; her siblings, Betty Griffin, Grady Daniels, Norris Mitchell, and Reid Daniels; and her niece, Kim Griffin.

The baby of six children, Nancy was born on the 25th of April, 1939 in Landis to the late Paul Daniels and Mozzelle Mitchell Daniels.

Nancy spent her childhood and teenage years living in her hometown of Landis, and at 18 years of age she graduated from Landis High School with the class of 1957. Soon after graduation, she decided to move to Charlotte where her older sister, Betty, already lived, and Betty welcomed Nancy in with open arms to live with her.

One day, in her early years as a Charlottean, Nancy was driving in the city and her car broke down. Luckily for her, this happened near a few local businesses, so she sought help from an attendant at a local gas station. The attendant, James, was quite taken by Nancy, and despite knowing all her car needed was time to cool down, he made up a story about it needing a part and offered to give her a ride home. Nancy accepted his offer and let him drive her home, and when she saw him again the next day about her car, he asked her out on a date.

Nancy and James had their first date at a Chinese restaurant located at Pecan and 7th Streets, right next to the gas station where they first met. From then on, they enjoyed many dates at treasured local restaurants, such as The Penguin and South 21 Drive In, which were two of their favorites. Nancy married James Bryan Long on the 5th of December, 1961 in York County, SC.

As newlyweds, Nancy and James moved around a little bit - first to Peachtree Street in Atlanta, GA, where they only stayed for six months, and then to Radford, VA, where James’ sons, James Jr., Allen, and Larry, were living at the time, and whom they took in from then on. It was also during their time in Radford that they welcomed their first son together, Tony, who was born in the nearby city of Richmond. Although they stayed in Radford a bit longer than they did Atlanta, it wasn’t too long before the family moved back to Charlotte, their true home, and where they went on to welcome four more children - Ada, Tim, John, and Charles.

As an inherently driven and hardworking person, Nancy always aspired to have work of her own, and so she took classes at a local college in Charlotte to learn telephone and switchboard operating. Her first job was at Southern Bell as a telephone operator, and she remained there for much of the 1960s. In her 30s, Nancy began working as a switchboard operator at three different hospitals in Charlotte simultaneously, with two of the three jobs being full-time positions. In recent years, Nancy had been working as a Receptionist and Greeter at East Charlotte Nissan, where she was a devoted employee up until the day she went into the hospital for her final stay.

Throughout her whole life, she exhibited a legendary work ethic and she never let the many jobs, long hours, or outside circumstances wear her down. Nancy gave 110% to everything she did, and while this was already well known to everyone, it was confirmed when Hurricane Hugo came around and Nancy went off to work as usual and without hesitation, alarming her family in the process. She took her work very seriously and it just never occurred to her to hold back in any scenario. She loved what she did, she loved the people she worked with, and she loved the purpose and meaning that her work added to her life. Her strength and dedication were a constant inspiration to her family, friends, and coworkers.

While the average person may prefer to keep their work and personal lives completely separate, Nancy was anything but average. She was a people person through and through, and frequently enjoyed going out to eat with her coworkers and telling them about her family, of whom she was so proud. Unsurprisingly adored in return, Nancy’s coworkers went out of their way to pay her visits in the hospital when she got sick, which meant so much to her and her family.

Despite Nancy’s busy work schedule, she still made time for leisurely activities, family time, and self-care. One of her favorite relaxing activities was watching tv; she watched Wheel of Fortune every night, tuned into wrestling matches every chance she got, and enjoyed watching the news to stay up-to-date on current events. In terms of pampering, she loved getting her hair done and was meticulous about it being just right. She also looked forward to her annual beach trip to Topsail, and eagerly awaited the patriotic holidays. Nancy’s brother served in both WWII and the Korean War, and while this deeply affected her and the rest of the family, she was incredibly proud of him and proud of her country; she knew firmly that freedom is not free.

Nancy’s seemingly never-ending well of love and compassion for others was evident in many ways; she was quite famous for her thoughtful greeting cards, which she sent for nearly every major holiday or life event, and the recipients ranged from family and friends to people who were extensions of her own loved ones. She also had a knack for ensuring their delivery would always be on or just before the specific date. Notably, when her daughter Ada’s brother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer, Nancy sent get-well-soon cards weekly to let him know she was thinking of him and offer encouragement. Additionally, Nancy had a sizable refrigerator magnet collection that became a sort of collaborative project with her family and friends. Whenever someone went on a trip somewhere, they always knew to bring Nancy a magnet from their destination. Her collection grew into the hundreds, and they represented places near and far, from businesses and landmarks right at home in Charlotte to countries all around the world.

Nancy’s remarkably generous nature was not limited to just human beings; she had a considerable soft spot for animals and regularly donated to animal rescue organizations for many years. She had a few pets of her own over the years as well, but her favorite was her beloved Welsh Corgi/Manchester Terrier Mix, aptly named “Fantastic Four” due to being the fourth born in his litter, and whom the family lovingly referred to as “Fanny.”

Strong, sassy, and straightforward always, Nancy was known for her tough love, both as a Mother and as a friend. You could always trust that she was going to be honest with you by saying what needed to be said, but you also knew that she was going to be as gentle as she could be. She never wanted to hurt anyone, especially the people she cared about.

Throughout her whole life, Nancy gave to others - she gave them her time, her money, and her love. With both her words and her actions, she taught her kids to always go through life with open hands and never with fists, because open hands mean you always have something to give to others, and despite never being wealthy herself, Nancy always found a way to give to others.

Those left to honor Nancy’s memory include her children, Allen Edward Long II, Roy Anthony Long (Sherri McCoy Long), Ada Jane Long-Hart (Richard Lee Hart Jr.), Timothy Paul Long (Teresa S. Long), John Alexander Long, and Charles Houston Long (Susan Elizabeth Long); her grandchildren, Tina Marie, Sonya Lee, Allen Edward III, Amber, Linda, Heather, Cheryle, Ricky III, J.R., Crystal, Julie, Laura, Daniel, Alex, Danny, Josh, and Christy; her great-grandchildren, Connor, Haven, Zachary, Makinsley, Stephanie, Sarah, Elijah Paul, Tyler James, London Marie, Reginald, Aaliyah, Sa’myah, Zariyah, Cheyenne, Abigail, Devon, Tara, Jacob, Jared, Andon, Calista, Caren, Brandon, Brianna, Anna Marie, Lil’ Alex, Aurora, Kiara, and Christy’s son; her great-great-grandson, August “Auggie;” her brother, Roy Lee Daniels; her close nieces and nephews, Jeff, Danny, Becky, and Linda; as well as numerous treasured cousins, nieces, nephews, other family members, and dear friends.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the Long family from 2:00pm until 3:00pm on Monday, the 11th of July, 2022 at Forest Lawn West Funeral Home, 4601 Freedom Drive in Charlotte. The funeral service is to be conducted at 3:00pm, immediately following the visitation, in the Paul Helton Chapel at the funeral home. The burial will follow at Forest Lawn West Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Nancy’s name to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the ASPCA, the American Diabetes Association, the Fisher House Foundation Inc., or the National Breast Cancer Coalition.