Ratledge—Nancy Lee McGuire Ratledge, 94, on April 22, 2023, in Greensboro, N.C. Nancy was born on March 22, 1929, to Aubrey Lee and Anne Brooks McGuire in Greensboro. She graduated from Guilford High School and attended Guilford College before marrying Hayes Osteen Ratledge on September 12, 1953, at New Garden Meeting in Greensboro. She and Hayes were the parents of five children, who were active in the meeting and at nearby Quaker Lake Camp.
Nancy worked as a secretary for Jefferson Standard Insurance Company, secretary/bookkeeper for McGuire Oil Company, and retired as secretary of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. She was a longtime member of New Garden Meeting. She and Hayes teamed up to serve the meeting and the yearly meeting in many ways. Toward the end of her life, Nancy was well-known for organizing the name tags for worship at New Garden. She was a quiet and supportive presence at meeting and yearly meeting functions. She was past president and past Civitan of the Year in the Guilford College Community Civitan Club. On the occasion of her eightieth birthday, Nancy’s children planted a maple tree at the meeting in her honor.
Nancy’s family fondly recalls her sweet rice that was always served at Christmas breakfast, her large vegetable garden, her involvement in couples bridge nights, her cleaning the dining room chandelier at midnight, and her adherence to what the family calls “the amazingly consistent inherited McGuire factor for lateness.”
Nancy was predeceased by her husband, Hayes Osteen Ratledge, in December 2022; a sister, Jean McGuire Foster; and a brother, Aubrey L. McGuire Jr.
She is survived by five children, Nan Martin, Sue Dunlap (Steve), Martha Farlow (Mark), Brooks Ratledge (Patricia Harden), and Marshall Ratledge (Kim); nine grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Ann Brooks Huffine and Peggy McGuire.
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