BUXTON — Nancy Ellen (Cooke) Giannotti, born June 25, 1937, in Lawndale, NC, is now praising Jesus in heaven having passed away peacefully at the age of 87 in Greenville, NC, on January 4, 2025.
Nancy was a rare gift in this world, to know her was to see the love of Jesus. Growing up on a cotton farm as the middle daughter of three was not always easy, but Nancy loved to tell stories about her early years working the fields as a family along with her older sister Sara and younger sister Brenda Kay.
At an early age, Nancy excelled at athletics, she played baseball and basketball well enough to be asked
to join the local traveling team, her love for sports led her to teach Physical Education after attending college at Appalachian State, where she met her husband Charles (Chuck) Virginius Giannotti. Nancy and her husband Chuck loved to travel, together they visited all 48 continental states. The couple had two daughters Debbie and Cyndee. After Nancy’s husband’s retirement from Ford Motor Company, they moved to the Outer Banks of North Carolina where Nancy remained after her husband’s passing in 1997.
It was in Buxton on Hatteras Island that Nancy found her passion for surf fishing, she spent over a decade volunteering for the Park Service at the Cape Hatteras National Lighthouse where visitors fondly remember her as the white-haired lady at the top, she loved to sew and her talent showed in the one of a kind quilts she created that has always been a treasure among her family. She was on the board of directors for the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club and was successful in competing in surf fishing competitions with her team the Island Girls.
Above all else, Nancy loved Christ, and she was proud to share that with the people in her life. She was a
dedicated longtime member of her church, Cape Hatteras Baptist, where she taught Sunday School and
found joy in spreading her love for the Lord. She spent most of her summers with her grandchildren, teaching them about Jesus, taking them to vacation Bible school, and playing with them at the beach. Nancy was preceded in death by her husband Chuck Giannotti and her parents Florence Leona Mull and Otis Edgar Cooke. She leaves behind her two daughters Debbie Pratt (Michael) and Cyndee Barnett, her five grandchildren Tia Hysell (Andy), Whitney Kennedy (Justin), Cassidy Barnett, Hannah Crites (Jason), and Brayden Pratt (Ashleigh), and her nine great-grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at Cape Hatteras Baptist Church on Saturday, January 11, 2025, at 1:00 pm. The family will receive friends and relatives from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm prior to the service at the church. A private burial will take place at the family cemetery in Buxton, NC.
Twiford Funeral Homes, Outer Banks is assisting the family with arrangements. Condolences and memories may be shared at www.TwifordFH.com.
