Nancy Jo Wallis Fleming

Nancy Jo Wallis Fleming, born May 31, 1932, in Marion, IL, passed away on October 9, 2023, in Raleigh, NC. She was 91 years old. She was the youngest child of the Rev. Russell William Wallis of Honey Bend, IL, and Prudence Douthit Wallis of Jasper, IL. She had two older sisters, Helen Louise Wallis Rusher, of Richmond, VA, and Elizabeth Ann Wallis Stephenson, of Lake Gaston, NC, who predeceased her, as did their husbands William D. Rusher and Earl F. Stephenson. Nancy Jo’s husband, Robert Henry Fleming, died on July 19, 2022; they were married for 69 years. In 2020, the couple moved to Springmoor Retirement Community.

Nancy Jo adored her father, a Southern Baptist minister. During her childhood and youth, he served congregations at First Baptist Church in Marion, IL, Moffett Memorial Baptist Church in Danville, VA, Park View Baptist Church in Portsmouth, VA, and Harrisburg Baptist Church in Harrisburg, IL. She loved her mother and remained close to her Douthit relatives her whole life.

After graduating from Harrisburg (IL) High School in 1949, Nancy Jo attended Blue Mountain College near Tupelo, MS; but homesick there, she transferred to Meredith College in Raleigh, where both her sisters graduated and family was closer. It was at Meredith that Nancy Jo met North Carolina State College student Bob Fleming at First Baptist Church downtown, in a Sunday night youth group led by Bill Simpson. On the morning of June 1, 1953, Nancy Jo graduated from Meredith with a degree in sociology; that afternoon, she married Bob.

For the next ten years, they lived across the South as he served in the U.S. Army, attended medical school, and did his internship and pediatric residency. Nancy Jo found employment as a social worker; she would later talk about visiting the homes of her poor clients, a world she had not known before. Soon, though, her own family would occupy most of her time. Nancy Jo and Bob’s first child, daughter Sue Wallis Fleming, was born in 1954 in Ft. Lee, VA; sons Robert Mark Fleming, John David Fleming, and Laurace Lee Fleming were born in Winston-Salem, NC, in 1960, Greenville, SC, in 1961, and Charlottesville, VA, in 1962. In 1964, the family moved back to Raleigh, where Bob began a medical practice that continues today as Raleigh Children and Adolescents Medicine. Bob and Nancy Jo also re-joined First Baptist Church of Raleigh, where they were devoted members for more than half a century.

Wife of a busy physician, and mother of four children, including three boys born one year apart, she did all the childcare and housework for the family. Her children remember her packing the best school lunches in the neighborhood and organizing, year after year, the family Christmas, with generous gifts for all. She was also active in church and community groups, including Meals on Wheels, and did volunteer work with breast cancer patients after she recovered from the disease herself. She enjoyed bridge and needlework, and was a member of several women’s groups, including the Lunch Bunch and Happy Hookers. She was good about staying in touch with friends and family from far away.

In 1974, she and Bob built a cabin in Laurel Springs, NC. They loved spending time in the mountains. For their children and grandchildren, the little cabin represented the couple’s simplicity and good nature. Nancy Jo took care of it all.

She loved cats and had at least one nearly every day of her life. Some of her favorite cats included Tulip, Henry, Peter, Edith Ann, Sister, Bo, and Sugar. In college, she wrote a research paper titled, simply, “Cats.”

Nancy Jo was proud of her children and adored her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who knew her as “N.J.” She wrote regular notes to the ones who lived far away and was a constant presence for those nearby, attending all sporting and school events. She was always at home to welcome whoever came by. Late in life, she and Bob traveled the world; and, in Raleigh, they were regulars on the Greenway, friends to many other walkers and their dogs.

More than anything, she loved her husband Bob. They lived a long, happy life together, devoted to each other, their family, and church.

She is survived by daughter Susie Fleming Hutchens of Lenoir, NC; son Robert Mark Fleming and wife Julie of Raleigh, NC; son John David Fleming of Holyoke, MA; son Laurace Lee Fleming of Raleigh, NC; grandchildren Taylor Hutchens and wife Mary Margaret of Raleigh, NC; Wallis Hutchens of Denver, CO; Robert H. Fleming, II, and wife Shelley, of Raleigh, NC; Oliver Fleming of Raleigh, NC; Carmen Fleming of Weehawken, NJ, and Isabel Fleming of London, UK; great-granddaughters Vivian and Evelyn Grace Fleming of Raleigh, NC; and numerous nephews and nieces, great-nephews and great-nieces.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to First Baptist Church, 99 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27603 and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, 717 S. Marshall St., Suite 105B, Winston-Salem, NC 27101.

A memorial service was held at First Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC, Saturday, October 21, at 12:00 noon.

Services provided by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 Saint Mary's St., Raleigh, NC 27605.