Catherine C. Nance

Catherine (Kay) Nance, 102, passed away on July 31, 2025, at Celebrate of Moline. Cremation will be directed by Mississippi Valley Cremation & Direct Burial, 1811 15th Street Place, Moline, Illinois, with interment in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Catherine was born on December 9, 1922, to Bertha and James Willham in Beardstown, Illinois. She started first grade at the age of 4 and graduated from high school at the age of 16. During World War II, she worked as a telephone operator.

After the war was over, she married the boy next door who had returned home from the Navy. Kay married Carl Nance on Valentine’s Day, 14 February 1946. She was a homemaker but also took part-time jobs to help her family when needed. Upon her husband’s retirement, she moved from North Pekin, Illinois, to Port Orange, Florida. She lived there for over 30 years until the death of her husband and her son. At the age of 93, she experienced her first trip on an airplane and moved back to Illinois to be closer to family,

She was preceded in death by her husband, Carl, and son, Terry, her parents, two brothers, and a sister.

She is survived by her sons, David (Linda) Nance in Ormond Beach, Florida, and Michael (Donna) Nance in Moline, Illinois, granddaughters Sherry Leonard and Shelli Hoyle, and four great-grandchildren.

The family thanks the staff at New Perspective, Silvis, Heritage Woods, Moline, Celebrate, Moline, and Heartland Hospice for their care and support over the past several years.

Special thanks to Laurie Tyler (New Perspective) and Evelyn Christie (Heritage Woods) for the friendship and love they provided Kay in her final years.

Family and friends are invited to share memories and express condolences on her memory page at mvcremation.com