Nancy R. Foster

Nancy transitioned to be with our Lord on March 15, 2024. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 8,1944 to John and Palma West. Nancy was the second youngest with eight siblings.

Nancy graduated from Wilkinsburg High School in Pittsburgh and remained there while working at Carnegie Mellon University, followed by PNC Bank. She met and married Byron in 1983. Several years later, they moved to Chicago, Illinois for Byron's job. Nancy worked for a short time at Johnson Publishing (Ebony-Jet), then received the optimum work opportunity at United Airlines, which fulfilled Nancy's passion for travel. She then conducted training at Employment and Employee Services in Chicago. Nancy began to enjoy her retirement after moving to Kalamazoo. Due to her dedication to serve others, Nancy volunteered at Borgess Hospital for many years and continued to do so until her illness. Nancy was committed to making these job-related moves because of the strength of her marriage.

Emanating out of Nancy's passion for reading and traveling was her desire to join groups having these common interests. Her reading passion was fulfilled when she joined the Novel Bunch book club. This group of ladies selected books to read, which was followed by discussion of the book. She loved crossword puzzles and online Scrabble. She loved word-related challenges.

Nancy's travel passion was what she called "wanderlust." This was an expression of her love for traveling. During her time at United Airlines, she supervised the initial training for new flight attendants from London, Paris, and Singapore. They joined the Travel Group in Kalamazoo, which consisted of friends enjoying traveling together. All these passions brought great joy to Nancy and helped build lasting friendships.

Nancy's church home is Bible Baptist Church of Kalamazoo, at which she became a faithful member for all her years in Kalamazoo. She loves the Lord and was always dedicated to learning the Bible through a Bible-teaching ministry. This led Nancy to worship and join Bible Baptist Church.

Nancy is survived by her loving husband of 40 years, Byron; her children, Robin Louise, Richard Eric, (Althea), Byron Christopher (Edwina), and Craig Randolph (Skye). She is also survived by her grandchildren, Karrah (Jonah), Khail, Lauren, Michelle (Jason), Kinsley, Paul, and two great-grandchildren, Shelby and Hendrix (Henny); her two sisters, Pearl and Helen, and two brothers Johnny and Ollie, and a host of nieces and nephews whom Nancy loves dearly.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, John and Palma; sisters Rebecca and Barbara, and brothers Harold and Ernest, all of whom have gone to their eternal rest.

Nancy R. Foster will be deeply missed by her loving husband and family, friends, and Bible Baptist Church family, and all the people whose lives she touched, which were many. Quoting Byron: "Nancy is the light of my life, and the light will continue to radiate brightly on all the sweet memories of our life together." May Nancy rest in peace.

A memorial service will be held at Bible Baptist Church, 1700 N. Drake Road, Kalamazoo, at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 5. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to The Bronson Cancer Center-Kalamazoo Fund held at the Bronson Health Foundation.

Whitley Memorial Funeral Home