PLEASE SIGN OUR GUESTBOOK THE FAMILY WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! __________________________________ Please Click On The Names Below Eric M. Chamberland - Grandson | Registered Nurse Graduate H. Nancy Schealer - 1949 Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania HUP | Hannah Nancy NcNey Schealer 4 March 1928 – 30 December 2020 Hannah Nancy McNey
Schealer answered the call of her Creator and Savior just before midnight on 30
December 2020. Departing the presence of her family, Nancy joined her husband,
Richard Burns Schealer, in the New Jerusalem, where he had been awaiting her
company since 19 October 2013. The cause of her passing was living a full life
from 4 March 1928 until the final days of 2020.
Her spirit was indeed willing to leave her flesh, which had grown
increasingly weaker over those well-lived nine decades. As Nancy stated, employing her sweet but
often direct humor just a few weeks before her thoroughly earned transition to Glory,
“I’m just surprised He hasn’t pulled the plug by now.”
Yet, while Nancy
Schealer was ready, her expansive family was certainly not!
It is, of
course, impossible to encapsulate such an extraordinary life into something as
inscrutable as an obituary, even though it is often attempted. Yet, the task was significant enough to those
who knew her and for those who loved Nancy so deeply that her novelist
son-in-law was assigned the great privilege of etching a few paragraphs into
the record. Thus, herein lies a smattering
of phrases that humbly attempt to scratch the surface, recording with all the
brevity of a graveside epitaph an astonishing life that made such a profound
difference to so many other humans. How
does one indeed even begin to adequately frame a whole life with a few strokes
of a pen? Especially words arranged with the expectation of somehow persisting
into perpetuity that sufficiently describe a truly exceptional life overflowing
with such extravagant grace toward so many? Can a short run of ordinary phrases
even begin to outline how Nancy Schealer so deeply and so profoundly influenced
the lives and wellbeing of family, friends, and a host of strangers who will
never even know her name – so many whose lives were made better just because
she lived? Ralph Waldo
Emerson said, “To know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” There were so many lives that Nancy Schealer
touched, and so many people – men, women, and children – who retired at the end
of their difficult days, night after night, breathing easier because Nancy
Schealer loved them with the powerful love of Christ. Her living, breathing faith was thus
expressed through her works of love – a love wholly energized by her special
touch that was driven so impressively by individual, stunning expressions of grace. It would be impossible to enumerate the list
that lives only in the heart of God, Who recorded every single one. If you go to
the vast global catalogue of the internet and search for H. Nancy Schealer, you
would find nothing notable outside of the family pages. And yet, when it
becomes possible, and the great book of lives in the Kingdom Heaven is finally opened
for all to review, her name – and her invisible and extensive work of eternal
significance for so many – will be prominent and quite obvious. That is why 1 Peter 3:4 is the verse selected
for her lasting memorial as it best defines her and her life’s greatest
strength as… “…the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a
gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.” You can trace Nancy’s legacy of quiet strength and determination to
make a difference in her world back to her early years at the onset of a great
world war. It began by a young teen lady
learning to fly and becoming a World War II aviatrix before she even learned to
drive an automobile or graduated from Boyertown High School in 1946, leading to
her devotion to others as a Registered Nurse from the Hospital at the
University of Pennsylvania, and then as a full-time mother to her six
children. She was an Audubon Society
member, involved with wildlife rescue, translator of books into braille, added
her lovely alto voice to the local chorale, was an avid undersea explorer,
passionate devotee of fishing, and a magnificent cook. She was a generous,
loving friend to her family, to those who easily befriended her, and to those
less fortunate who needed her touch, which she freely and compassionately gave.
For many years, Nancy was a financial supporter
of many causes she found closest to her heart, notably meeting many Veterans’
needs, Law Enforcement, Children’s Hospitals, and medical charities, as well as
Native American schools and homes.
Yet, the most
astounding and remarkable characteristic of her life was the gentle grace she
expressed through her existence each day. Her family never heard her utter an
unpleasant word to her husband throughout their 63 years together and would be
hard pressed to cite an example of her speaking ill of anyone. She truly
epitomized the Proverbs 31 woman, from its opening question to its final
analysis: “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her
worth is far above rubies. Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many daughters have done well,
but you excel them all.’” As Nancy is
laid to her well-earned rest, she leaves behind not just a robust lineage but a
profound legacy of joy and hope for so many.
And, of the most deeply significant of all her bequeathed treasures given
to us who remain, Nancy left the greatest gift she had to give to all those
whom she loved most – her legacy of faith.
We receive from her example the sure and confident model of a life lived
to honor and reflect her greatest treasure – Jesus Christ, her Lord Master. Nancy
would be the very first to reveal to anyone who wished to listen that her footsteps
and the trace of her path through this life were accompanied by the Shadow and Footprints
of her Savior, from Calvary’s cross to the glittering gates of the New
Jerusalem that now features her among its citizens. Nancy
Schealer spent every day of her life preparing for this ultimate journey that commenced
just before the dawning of 2021, beginning the second phase of a new existence
that has no end at all. But while we already miss her with a painful intensity on this side of
eternity, we are so happy she is once again with her beloved husband Richard,
and with her Jesus. Today, Nancy is experiencing her new body that comes with
an infinite warranty and has no broken or worn-out parts. And there, right
about now, she is walking hand in hand with Richard along the broad avenue of
transparent gold, coming to terms face-to-face with the great promise: “Things
which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the
human heart, all that God has prepared there in that place for those who love
Him.” For, indeed… “Oh, death where is thy sting, oh, grave where is thy victory?” On the following pages, please
enjoy the witness and the heartfelt sentiments of those who have known and
loved her best!
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