Nancy Kate Givens, 78, of the Clover Hollow community in Newport, Virginia, died Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017. She was born in Salem, Virginia on Jan. 17, 1939.
As a child, Nancy Kate showed championship Herford and Simmental cattle. It was with funding from her farming endeavors that allowed her to attend college. She graduated from Lynchburg College with a Bachelors of Science, double majoring in Chemistry and Biology. She taught 7th and 8th grade math for Franklin County Schools until she was able to retire and explore her other passions.
In her retirement, she enjoyed hosting the Inwood Hunt Club- a venture she inherited from her late husband. There was nothing she enjoyed more than cooking a mid-day supper for her hungry hunters, each of whom became an integral part of the family. When she wasn’t hosting her friends, she was sewing clothes, quilting, or tending to one of her many side projects. Nancy Kate was an avid local historian, and genealogist. In her life she wrote four books- one on the Clover Hollow Covered Bridge, one on the cemeteries in Clover Hollow, one on the history of the Newport School, and one that was her own personal cookbook. In the last few years of her life, an injury prevented Nancy Kate from being as active and independent as she liked. The family extends an enormous amount of gratitude to all of the caregivers who tended to her throughout the years.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Jim Karl and Ruby Marshall Givens, and her husband, George Eldon Foster. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law David Wiseman and Carley Ellis, daughter Sharon Milliron, and granddaughters Christie Bolton, Connie Milliron and Janie Lozovski.
A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, Jan. 6 at 4p.m. in the McCoy Funeral Home Chapel. The family will receive friends from 2p to 4p prior to the service at the McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Dr. SW, Blacksburg.
Per Nancy Kate’s request, guests are asked not to wear black. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Giles County Animal Shelter.
