Nancy Rucker

Nancy Lee Baxter Rucker, age 91, of Charlotte, North Carolina passed away on Friday, March 29, 2024, from Lewy body dementia. She was born to the late John David Baxter and Edna Mae Bast Baxter in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 17, 1932. Nancy grew up in her father's hometown of Atlanta and attended Lee Street School and Brown High School. In 1953, she graduated from Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina, with a Bachelor's Degree in Education. Nancy became a teacher and taught in Atlanta City, Rabun County, and White County schools in Georgia. She particularly loved the years she spent as an elementary school librarian in Rabun County, and in her retirement she liked to read to schoolchildren. Nancy's faith was an important part of her life. She grew up at Highland Avenue ARP Church and was active at West End Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, than at East Point Presbyterian Church in East Point, Georgia. She later became a member of Cleveland United Methodist Church in Cleveland, Georgia until she moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and found a home at Plaza Presbyterian Church. She occasionally served as the organist for church services throughout her adult life, and she sang in the choir and taught Sunday school. She volunteered for Meals on Wheels, Respite Care for dementia patients, and the local food pantry, and sponsored the teen organization of the Kiwanis Club at White County High School. Nancy was an avid reader and gardener, an amateur naturalist, and an animal lover and rehabilitator. She knew the names of every plant, tree, bird and critter in her garden and woods. Over the years, she enjoyed appearing in the 'grandmother roles' in several of the musical theater productions at the high school. Nancy was kind and generous, a gifted teacher, a devoted wife and mother, a loyal friend, and a lover of all creatures, including humans. She studied history and followed politics all of her life and would give you her unvarnished opinion if you asked for it. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband Delmer Earl Rucker, her sister Mary Patricia Baxter Banks, and grandson Daniel Robert Gindra. Nancy is survived by her children, Susan Rucker Gindra (Bob) of Charlotte, North Carolina and David Michael Rucker of Sterling, Massachusetts; grandchildren, David Russell Gindra (Marcus Peterson) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Amelia Esperanza Gindra of Charlotte; sisters-in-law, Joan Rucker Kay and Carolyn Williams Rucker of Greenville, South Carolina; nieces, Caroline Banks Jones (Levoyd) and Jennifer Banks Bridges and their children of Riverdale, Georgia; cousin Mary Jo Bernhard (Roger) of Cincinnati, Ohio. She will be interred in Yonah View Memorial Gardens on Saturday, May 25 at 11:00 am. Memorials can be made in honor of Nancy to any wildlife or animal welfare cause, or to Doctors Without Borders. To share a memory or to leave an online condolence for the family, please visit www.barrettfh.com Barrett Funeral Home of Cleveland.