Nancy (Gates) Dale

Nancy Grey Gates Dale, 93, of Kinston, NC passed away peacefully on October 27th, 2019 at Kitty Askins Hospice Center in Goldsboro, NC.  Nancy Dale was born in Farmville, NC on July 10, 1926 to her parents, Sterling and Lee Gates.  Nancy and her family moved to Kinston while she was in high school.  After graduating from Meredith College with a B.S. in Elementary Education in 1947, she married Dr. Frederick Payne Dale, Sr.  They lived in Kinston where Dr. Dale was a revered general surgeon, and she was a teacher at Harvey Elementary School until starting a family of four children. 

            Nancy and her husband were faithful members of First Baptist Church in Kinston, where they were very involved with the youth ministry.  She was a longtime member of the Laura McDaniel Sunday School Class and the church choir.  Also, she enjoyed involving herself in many various community organizations that she loved and gave to a large number of charitable organizations and missions.

 Sweet Nancy will be remembered as a wonderful Christian lady who loved Jesus.  She imitated Christ in the way she loved and served others with a grateful heart.  She was diligent in ministering to all who were in need by serving and loving them unconditionally.  She loved to cook, and her specialties were sour cream coffee cake, homemade cinnamon buns, and macaroni and cheese souffle’.  She was an adored wife, mother, grandmother, relative, and friend.  To know her was to know love.

            In addition to her loving parents, she was preceded in death by her beloved husband and her cherished siblings, Lee Sanders and Sterling Gates.  She leaves behind a beautiful legacy of memories, grace, and love through her surviving family members which include her children: Laura Powell of Farmville (Bill), Nan Dale of Kinston (Tim), Payne Dale Jr. of Kinston, Mark Dale of Statesville (Trish); her grandchildren: Gray Powell of Greenville (Virginia), Needham Cheely of Greenville (Mandria), Catherine Jarvis of Chico CA (Louis), Gracen Morris of Raleigh, Ann Sterling Dale of Dallas,TX, Garrison Dale of Ocala FL (Kat); and her great grandchildren: Violet and Sophie Powell, Gabriella and Pippa Jarvis, Isabella and Gates Cheely.  Also surviving her are a host of nieces, nephews, and extended family whom she loved dearly and had close relationships with.

Nancy Dale’s Celebration and Homegoing Service will be Saturday, November 2, 2019 at 4:00 pm at First Baptist Church, Kinston, NC. The family will receive visitors at 3pm in the church parlor.  A private burial will be held prior to the service and visitation.

The family would like to thank the wonderful staff, family members and friends who provided care for our precious mother and grandmother while she lived at Magnolia Cottage, Kitty Askins, and at her daughter’s home over the past two years.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the First Baptist Church (Children’s Ministry) or to Meredith College (Nutrition Health and Human Performance).