Nancy Ezzell East

WINSTON-SALEM - Nancy Ezzell East, 85, died early Monday morning at Arbor Acres Retirement Center with two sisters by her side. She was a gentlewoman of the South - a wife, mother, feminist, spiritual soul, singer, poet - who believed fiercely in basic human equality. Nancy was born Jan. 26, 1930, in Winston-Salem, and met her future husband, William Edward East, at a Tuesday night dance around the jukebox at the YWCA. She was married to Bill, who was a writer and editor at the Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel, for 41 years until his death in 1992. She raised two sons, Edward East, who died in 2003, and Jon East, who lives in Clearwater, Fla. In her sons' formative years, Nancy was a PTA president at Ardmore Elementary School, a faithful participant in daily schoolwork, and ultimately a paralegal to help pay for their college tuition. During the 1960s, Nancy was active in local Democratic politics and, in 1967, she held meetings of a biracial committee in her Ardmore home as Winston-Salem grappled with racial strife. She lived in that same Ardmore home for more than 50 years. She is survived by: three sisters, Audrey Wilson, Linda Durham and Kay Frank of Winston-Salem; her son Jon and his wife, Janice; her daughter-in-law Catherine Covington-East of Charlotte; four grandchildren, Megan East of Atlanta, Erika Morse of Tampa, William East of San Francisco and Nathaniel Covington of Wilmington; and two great-grandchildren, Ella and Mason Morse of Tampa. A celebration of Nancy's life will be held at 3 pm Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel. The family will receive friends following the service. The family requests that memorials, in lieu of flowers, be made to the Parkway United Church of Christ, 2151 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem, NC 27103. Online condolences may be made to Nancy's memorial page at www.hayworth-miller.com.

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