Nancy Royall Holton

Nancy Royall Holton, age 88, passed away peacefully at home on July 10, 2023. Nancy was a lifelong Methodist and a member of Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church for more than 40 years. She cherished her membership in Chapter AA of P.E.O., a women’s philanthropic organization.

A service of remembrance and celebration of Nancy’s life will take place on the morning of Saturday, July 15, at 11:00 a.m. at Johns Ridout's Valley Chapel in Homewood. The family will receive friends before the service. Arrangements are pending for private graveside service and interment in North Carolina.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggest memorial donations to United Methodist Committee on Relief or UMCOR (umcmission.org}, the P.E.O. International Foundation (peointernational.org), the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease Research (michaeljfox.org) or the charity of your choice.

Born on November 5, 1934 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Nancy Ann Royall was the oldest child of the late Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Royall (Ruth Nifong). She is predeceased by her sister, Sara Royall Grogan. Nancy was a graduate of James A. Gray High School, class of 1953. After graduation and while Nancy was a receptionist in the personnel department at Western Electric, she met a handsome engineer who was new to Winston-Salem. Nancy and Harold Holton married in 1959 and they were together for 56 years until his death in 2015. Harold’s career with the Bell System moved the family to several places in North Carolina, to Kentucky, and finally to Birmingham in 1979.

Nancy loved many things. She loved all things North Carolina, especially the tastes and traditions of the Moravian community at the heart of her hometown. She loved UNC Tarheel basketball, animals of all kinds especially dogs, fifties rock-n-roll, family trips to the beach, fried shrimp, summer tomato sandwiches, sweets especially those from treasured family recipes, and gardening. Nancy’s green thumb was well-known and she was always happy to share gardening advice or a cutting from one of her plants. Nancy applied the same constant care and nurture that she afforded her flowers to relationships throughout her life. It was Nancy’s warm, funny, welcoming nature that established friendships wherever the family lived, wherever she worked or worshipped, whatever group she was part of, or wherever she did business. Whether you knew Nancy for a day or a lifetime, she had a way of making you feel special and loved. She was a nurturer in everything she did.

Nancy was a member of Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church for more than forty years. She enjoyed her friends in the Trinity Sunday School class and was involved in United Methodist Women for many years. On many Sunday mornings, Nancy could be found tending to the youngest church members in the nursery. Without a doubt, the work experience that gave her the most joy was the 20 plus years that she spent as a teacher at the day school associated with the church. She loved the children, their families, her co-workers, and the church staffers that she saw each day. And it was mutual.

Nancy was the heart of her family, the one who made their house a home, and their source of unwavering love and support. In recent years when illness challenged her abilities and memory, she was still teaching us all through her example of grace, grit, and humor. Although Nancy was known also as Nancy Ann, Mrs. Nancy, or Fancy Nancy, her favorite monikers by far were Mom and Grandma. Nancy is survived by her daughter, Karen Holton of Birmingham, her son, Douglas Holton (wife, Lou Ann) of Daphne, Alabama, two granddaughters, Annagail and Audra Holton, several cousins and extended family. The family would like to express their gratitude especially to four dear friends - Karen Moye, Carol Allen, Kimberly Jones, and Janesha Moye – whose loving support and kindness during Nancy’s last years has been a Godsent blessing.

Services are under the direction of Ridout's Valley Chapel (205-879-3401) in Homewood.