- Date Of Birth: May 8, 1931
- Date Of Death: July 10, 2019
- State: Texas
Nancy Lou Zirkle McCuskey was born on May 8, 1931 in Clarksburg, West (by God) Virginia. She was the daughter of Tommy Thompson, a musician in a traveling band, and Edith Marie Mann. A few years later, Edith Marie Mann married Milford Jacob Roy “MJR” Zirkle in Clarksburg. MJR adopted Nancy. MJR was always “Daddy” to Nancy and he was a very caring and loving father.
The Zirkles moved to Suncrest, a small community just outside of Morgantown, West Virginia. MJR served as a “tanker” in an armored division in the U.S. Army, shortly after WWII. Nancy was the oldest of four children, all girls!!! Dee Dee, Carol and Mary Jeanette. MJR was blessed with four beautiful, intelligent, albeit “spirited,” daughters. Nancy was ten years older than Dee, 14 years older than Carol and 18 years older than Mary Jeanette.
Nancy attended Suncrest Elementary School, and Suncrest Junior High School. The Zirkles moved to 200 Euclid Avenue, Morgantown, WV. Nancy attended Morgantown High School and West Virginia University – “Go Mountaineers!!!”
Nancy was always active in sports and music. Later in life, she would encourage her children to do the same. During her high school years, 1945-1949, Nancy played basketball and life guarded during the summer months of high school.
After graduating from MHS in the Class of 1949, she attended West Virginia University (WVU) from the Fall of 1949 until she graduated in 1953. Nancy played on the WVU women’s Basketball team and graduated from WVU with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical and Health Education. She enjoyed using her knowledge to help children at Camp Pocahontas, where Nancy’s handle was “Jeep,” because Sam would always come to visit her in his open Jeep. Nancy enjoyed teaching swimming, canoeing, and water safety. She loved to tap dance and play the piano. As Waterfront Director, at the camp, she lead many outdoor activities.
Nancy became close friends with Jessie McCuskey in junior high school. While spending time with Jessie’s family, she met Jessie’s brother, Samuel Roy McCuskey Jr. who was also attending the same junior high school. They stayed friends while teenagers and then dated when young adults. Nancy married Sam on Sunday, April 13, 1952, while in college. Sam entered into active service on June 18, 1954 as a 2nd Lt at Ft. Benning, Georgia and Nancy became an Officer’s wife.
Sam returned to WVU and was accepted in the first class of the WVU School of Dentistry. Nancy gave birth to their fifth child, Stuart, on December 22, 1960. Upon graduation, in 1961, Sam entered into the Dental Corps of the Regular Army, on August 19, 1961, with a wife and five children: Samuel III, Sandra, Sharyl, Steve, and Stuart. Over the next 33 years, Nancy and their children would follow her husband’s career to many stated and foreign countries, as he loyally served the United States of America, a country they both loved.
Lieutenant Colonel McCuskey, DDS and Nancy, having served faithfully and honorably, retired from the United States Army on the First day of May 1987. However, Nancy was not idle during Sam’s military career. She loved to travel. She worked hard to provide a loving home for her family and friends. She was an excellent homemaker and family bookkeeper. Nancy planned her meals so that her family knew to gather around the dinner table at 18:00, military time, or 6PM every evening for a time of good food and laughter.
She ended every evening with the children gathered around her, reading from traditional authors, devotionals and Bible stories. She was a Cub Scout Den mother, Girls Scout assistant leader, attended the Rachael Ladies Bible Study, Mother of the Year in Killeen, Texas, and Officer’s Wife of the Year in Berlin, Germany. While in Berlin, Nancy and her husband became guardians to two exception young scholar athletes, Pascal Sherrod and Harry Smith, so they could finish their senior years at Berlin American High School.
While at various military posts, she helped with the Protestant Women of the Chapel (P.W.O.C.). Nancy loved music and made sure her children received piano lessons along with other musical instruments when possible. She and Sam both taught Sunday School and inspired their children to participate in sports, to experience the outdoors, and to partake in church activities. They both believed in and supported their children’s higher education goals. While growing up, she liked to go to the beach and to her beloved West Virginia mountains, so it was no surprise that later she liked to plan many family vacations to various beaches and mountains.
Nancy’s family returned to Killeen and later moved to Harker Heights where they lived happily for many years enjoying their family, church, scouts and community. They loved having relatives and friends come for visits and showing them around Texas. They also looked forward to family reunions in Almost Heaven, West Virginia, where they could be in their beautiful mountains with loved ones.
On April 7, 1984, tragedy struck the McCuskey Family. Stephen Michael McCuskey, 25 years old, had just returned to the United States after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, on a “Float” in the Mediterranean near Iran. Steve was murdered in Galveston, Texas while out jogging. Steve left behind his son, Steven Michael McCuskey, Jr. Nancy and Sam later adopted their grandson, S. Michael McCuskey, Jr.
Nancy is preceded in death by her beloved son, Stephen (1984) and her devoted husband, Sam (2015). She is survived by her three sisters Dee Fields, Carol Vail and Mary Jeanette Adams, and their families and her four adult children; Samuel McCuskey III, Sandra McCuskey, Sharyl Robichaud, Stuart McCuskey and her eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
