She came from a poor family of tenant farmers and believed in church, family and education.

Christine Long Nance, a Charlotte native, died Nov. 22, 2011 at age 73. She was a retired registered nurse.

Christine graduated in 1955 with honors from West Charlotte Senior High School and in 1958 from Good Samaritan School of Nursing, where she would return as a nurse.

She was licensed to practice in North Carolina and New York. She had worked at Charlotte Rehabilitation Hospital, Mercy Hospital and Charlotte Memorial – now known as Carolinas Medical Center, where she and former CEO Harry Nurkin started work on the same day in 1981.

A good start

Christine began her nursing career at Good Samaritan Hospital, one of the first hospitals for blacks. Built in 1891, it sat on Hill Street, which is now the 50-yard line of Bank of America Stadium, near Mint and Stonewall streets in Third Ward.

She met fellow nurse Agnes Blakeney at “Good Sam” in 1959 and they became lifelong friends. They shared raising their children as single parents and supported each other in times of need. They loved to sew and crochet together and house-hunted until each found the right home, just across the bridge from one another.

“She didn’t like to cook,” said daughter Deborah Nance, a Charlotte attorney. “But she loved to sew, crochet, read, do crossword puzzles and cryptograms. She was a huge football and basketball fan and especially loved college basketball.

“She was very interested in education and had a keen interest in seeing individuals become educated, productive citizens who took care of self and family,” her daughter said. “In high school, she loved math and science. If she hadn’t become a nurse, she may have taught math or science.”

Even though cooking was not one of her strong suits, she appreciated good food. She was especially fond of Agnes’ coconut layer cake.

“She would tell me, ‘Let me know when you’re down to one piece, and I’ll follow you home.’ We stuck together through the years and never had a cross word,” Agnes said.

The extra mile

“She was an excellent nurse,” her friend said. “She was kind and giving, took a lot of time with her patients. If someone needed her nails done, she would take time to do that, and would go that extra mile.”

“She loved geriatrics and any individuals who had physical challenges from stroke or accident,” her daughter recalled. “She once worked in a psychiatric facility and because she was just five-feet tall, one patient mistook her for a doll and just picked her right up.”

Willie Mae Blair was Christine’s coworker at Charlotte Rehabilitation Hospital and had known her for 22 years. “She was a smart lady and always on time,” Willie Mae said. “I enjoyed working with her and she was one of the best head nurses I ever worked with.”

Christine quit work when her sister, Frances McKee, suffered a stroke. “She stopped work completely,” her daughter said, “and took care of Aunt Frances. She also volunteered for many years with Crisis Assistance Ministry.”

Heaven may have its share of nurses, and now it has another one who has gone the extra mile.
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Editor's note: This is our series called Lives That Matter. Written by Charlotte writer Gerry Hostetler, this weekly feature will profile individuals, recently deceased, who had a positive impact on those around them. Email editor@qcitymetro.com.

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