Nancy S. Watkins

1923 - 2025

Nancy S. Watkins

Dec 12, 1923 - Sep 29, 2025

Nancy S. Watkins of Winston-Salem, N.C., passed away peacefully on September 29, 2025 in Winston-Salem. Born on December 12, 1923, Nancy was the youngest of six children of Dr. Harry Benjamin and Mary Lucretia Stone of Roanoke, Va. Nancy grew up in Roanoke and graduated from Salem College in 1944.

Following college graduation, Nancy studied for a year at the Traphagen School of Fashion in New York City, while awaiting the return of her beau William Romney Watkins of Charlotte Court House, Va., from wartime military service in Italy.

In 1945, Nancy and Romney were married. Together they raised four rowdy children while relocating several times around the country through corporate transfers. With every move, Nancy and Romney put down roots with Junior League, church, and community activities, leaving dear friends in their wake with every transfer.

By the 1960s Nancy and Rom had settled in Lynchburg, Va., where Nancy was instrumental in the establishment of the city's first public library as well as a "sheltered workshop" to employ the developmentally disabled. Nancy and Romney later settled in Winston-Salem. There Nancy had a successful real estate career and volunteered with Friends of the Library, American Association of University Women, and St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

Nancy was an accomplished amateur mycologist who loved nothing better than traipsing through the woods of her beloved Blue Ridge mountains, collecting fungi and documenting them through exquisite drawings. She maintained a lifelong study of the human figure through pencil, charcoal and watercolor sketches. Her work adorns the homes of family and friends.

In later life, Nancy travelled extensively in Europe, especially Italy, visiting the sites she had always intended to visit with Romney.

Nancy was predeceased by her husband and by her grandson Andrew Hamilton Watkins. She is survived by her children, William Romney Watkins, Jr., and wife Rebecca Fuller of Key West, Fla.; Isabel Watkins Taylor of Asheville, Cassandra Watkins Pepinsky and husband Eugene of Camp Hill, Pa., and Suzanna DuPuy Watkins and husband Jeffrey Wilson of Winston-Salem. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Catherine Taylor Lieberman and husband Neal, Thomas Blake Pepinsky and wife Juliana, William Romney Watkins III and wife Michelle Ferris, James Butler Taylor and wife Kindra, Elizabeth Romney Pepinsky and husband Justin Lenyk, Charles Rutherfoord Watkins and partner Jeremy Murray, Samuel Comfort Wilson and wife Jacqueline Gerson, and Joseph Kearfott Wilson and wife Sophie Hollis; and six great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m., on December 11, 2025, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem. Private interment will be at the Village Cemetery in Charlotte Court House, Va.

The family would like to thank the wonderful nursing staff and aides at Arbor Acres, and special friend Elizabeth Bostic. In lieu of flowers, gifts in Nancy's memory may be made to the St. Paul's Music Fund. Send condolences through www.salemfh.com.

Salem Funeral & Cremation Service

2951 Reynolda Rd., Winston-Salem, NC 27106