Nancy Blackard

Nancy Freeman Blackard, age 82, of Collierville went to be with the Lord on Friday, Aug. 28, 2020. Born Oct. 26, 1937 to the late J.V and Ruth Freeman, Nancy spent her formative years living on the family farm in Martin, and graduated from Martin High School in 1955. Nancy received her diploma from Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, completed her state boards to become a Registered Nurse, and began her long career of more than 50 years working for the Methodist Hospital System. Nancy’s long- term commitment to the patients and the Memphis community she served was acknowledged by the Methodist Hospital System in 2006 when she received Nurse of the Year. Nancy was a huge Memphis Tigers fan and a long-time member of Central Church. What she loved the most was her family, and enjoyed nothing more than taking care of her husband, and the “”boys””. As her family grew to include daughter- n- laws and grandchildren, she was never happier than when everyone was around the same table eating, telling stories and jokes, and laughing. Those memories are precious to the family. Nancy was preceded in death by her husband of 57 years, Ronald Lee Blackard. She leaves her sons, Ronald Lee Blackard ll (Glynis) and David Wesley Blackard (Christy); three grandchildren, Candice Blackard Ammons (Seth), Andrew Wesley Blackard (Josselyne) and Marie Elana Blackard, all of Shelby County; three siblings, Jimmy Freeman (Lois) of Martin, Peggy Eakes (the late Bubba Eakes) of Germantown and Charles Leslie Freeman ( Linda) of Greensboro, North Carolina; a sister-n-law, Ginger Pope (Jerry) of Asheville, North Carolina; multiple nieces, nephews and grand nieces and nephews to round out the extended family she loved.