Nancy Cockman Brown died on October 23, 2018 in Greensboro, North Carolina. She was born in Greensboro on October 27, 1930 to the late Flora Sessoms Cockman andWilbur Marley Cockman. She worked for Burlington Industries for seventeen years in both the New York and Greensboro offices, where she was the executive secretary for Chief Executive Officers Spencer Love and Henry Raugh. It was at Burlington that Nancy met the love of her life, Chief Industrial Engineer Alex S. Brown, Jr., and after five years of courtship they were married. Nancy then changed her focus from working full time to being a supportive, fun, and loyal wife to Alex and to raising and encouraging their daughter, Ellen, who was born a year later. Nancy and Alex were happily married for thirty-eight years until his death in 2003. Known as “Mimi” to her family, she was a devoted grandmother to her three grandsons whose childhood memories include cherished visits with her.
Nancy will be remembered for her elegance and beauty, her rich mezzo-soprano voice, and her love for her family and friends. She was a member of several musical groups, including the Greensboro Oratorio Society, the Bur-Mil Chorus, the Don Trexler Singers, the Symphony Guild Women’s Chorus, the First Baptist Church Choir and the Well-Spring Chorus. She volunteered for the Greensboro Day School Parents Association, the Greensboro Symphony Guild and the First Baptist Church Children’s Sunday School. She enjoyed several bridge clubs and the Wednesday Guild Book Club. Nancy contributed a fun spirit to the Well-Spring retirement community for over 22 years, and her family is so grateful to the Well-Spring staff and to her care-giver, Eleanor Williams, for their loving and patient care.
Nancy is survived by her daughter, Ellen Brown Blake; her son-in-law, Otis Daniel Blake, III; and her grandsons, Daniel Alexander Blake, John Augustus Blake and David Harrison Blake.
There will be a graveside service at Zeta Cemetery, 340 Zeta Street, in her husband’s hometown of Tennille, Georgia at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 1, followed by dinner and visitation at Tennille Baptist Church, 204 N. Main Street. On Wednesday, November 21, there will be a Celebration Service in the Richardson Auditorium at Well-Spring in Greensboro at 11:00 a.m. followed by a reception in the Rotunda.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Community Church Griffin, PO Box 907, Griffin, GA 30224 or Young Life Griffin, PO Box 376, Griffin, GA 30224.
May and Smith Funeral Home of Sandersville, Georgia is in charge of arrangements.