Nancy Letitia Umphrey Obituary
Nancy Cockrill Umphrey, 64, passed from her Earthly home to her Heavenly Home into the arms of her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on February 8, 2022 at Texoma Medical Center in Denison, Texas. Nancy had a huge heart. She was born on Saturday, March 16, 1957 in Bonham, Texas at the M&S clinic, to her parents Herbert (Hub) Benjamen and Thelma Loretta McMillan Cockrill. Nancy attended school in the Denison Independent School District. She started her education at Sam Houston Elementary, then she attended McDaniel Jr. High.
Nancy completed her public education attending Denison High School with the DHS class of 1975. Nancy was very athletic, winning physical education awards while attending McDaniel Jr. High. In Nancy's younger years, she worked a variety of jobs at Diaper Jeans, alongside her mother and her sister. Later in life, Nancy worked in retail as a Department manager for Belk Dept. Stores and Goodies Family Clothing. Nancy married the love of her life, Roland Umphrey, on July 31, 1982. Nancy and Roland had known each other for many years, since 1971.
They started dating in October 1979 and after 3 years of dating they were united in marriage by Roland's cousin Grayson County Judge Horace Groff. Nancy and Roland were married in the home of Judge Groff, a 3 story Victorian home at the intersection of West Gandy and Rusk Avenue in Denison. Nancy and Roland then honeymooned for 2 weeks in the Vero Beach and Orlando areas of Florida. They visited Disneyland and other areas while honeymooning in Florida. Nancy was a great cook and she loved to cook. I used to tease her that she cooked just like my Nanny and I surely could not let someone that cooked that well get away from me. And I did not let that happen.
Nancy often spoke about writing her own cookbook, a cookbook that had a name such as NANNYs CUPBOARD. She wanted to fill the book with favorite family recipes. Nancy loved and adored her two daughters and four beautiful grandchildren. She was the best Mother and nanny that she could ever possibly be for them. She loved spending time with each and everyone of them. Nancy had some beautiful flower gardens that she had acquired and built from scratch. Most of her flower collections were comprised of Irises.
She had some beautiful pet Bettas over the years. Nancy did not own up to it but I think she trained her Bettas to do tricks. They kept us quite entertained. Nancy loved her feline pets. She raised and bred Siamese cats for several years. She surely raised some beautiful and characteristic cats over the years. One cat, Georgia, always got me into hot water with Nancy. On different occasions Nancy had made some cakes and breads. She would place them on a cooling rack on the kitchen cabinet or table to cool.
Nancy would check on her baked goods and discover that a large portion would be missing. I would get accused of the deed. What saved me was I convinced Nancy that if I was gonna take some of her goodies I would have used a knife to slice a piece not break off chunks, plus we did catch Georgia in the act. It was almost too much to believe that Georgia was eating Nancy's goodies. Nancy was preceded in death by both her maternal and paternal grandparents, her parents, Hub and Loretta Cockrill, mother-in-law Margaret Janice Davenport Umphrey, brother Charles Cockrill, brother-in-law Doug Griffin, brother-in-law Mark Wedding.
Nancy is survived by her husband, Roland Umphrey of Denison, daughters Letitia Bartley and husband Jeff and Allecia McLeod, all of Denison, sister Noni Griffin of Sherman, sister-in-law Debi Wedding of Sherman, sister-in-law Linda Cockrill of Denison, brother-in-law Mickey Umphrey of Vero Beach, FL. Grandchildren Garrett and Noah Bartley, Loretta and Benjamen McLeod, all of Denison. There will be a memorial service for Nancy at a later date, when the weather is more predictable and warmer, and hopefully the health climate will be in a better situation.
