Mrs. Nancy Jean Coble Governali

Nancy Jean Coble Governali passed away peacefully in the loving embrace of her family on January 10, 2025. She was a devoted wife of 57 years to her husband Joseph; mother of two sons, Joseph and Matthew; mother-in-law to Natalie and Stephanie; and loving Nana to three grandchildren, Mia, James and Henry. Nancy was born in Middletown, Pennsylvania in 1943. She was a true “War Baby" with her father soon to be serving with the Navy in the Pacific. She attended Middletown schools and talked about being so proud to have carried the American flag as part of the band front of her high school marching band. She developed her love of the out-of-doors through many years of scouting. After high school, she attended West Chester State College where she majored in physical education. A highlight of her time there was performing in a production of the musical Carousel, which fit well with her lifelong love of music and theater. Her academic performance there resulted in graduate assistantship offers from several universities to pursue her master's degree. She selected The University of Illinois where she met her future husband, Joseph. She taught in the aquatics program at the University and introduced lacrosse to her classes of college women who had never seen or heard of lacrosse. So impressive was her teaching that her classes were videotaped for future use. At the end of her master's program she was offered a research assistantship to work on a doctorate degree. By that time, however, she already had a very good job offer in hand, decided to start the new job and return to Illinois summers to initiate doctorate study. The new teaching job brought her to Long Island and a burgeoning school district that included SUNY Stony Brook. She and Joe married in 1967 and at the end of four great teaching years on Long Island, the family had their first son, Joseph. A week later the family went back to Illinois and school for her husband. Nancy became a devoted mom to her new baby and they were inseparable. Nancy loved to travel the Big Ten campus with her son tucked into the carriage and a bit later biked with her baby on the back of a very early edition of a child bike seat. After two years at the University, the family moved to the Chicago area and began life in the suburb of Oak Park, where Nancy enjoyed the proximity to Chicago. The family had their second son, Matthew, at the end of two years in Oak Park and then headed east to be closer to family and Joe's job at SUNY Cortland. Nancy put off a return to teaching because she wanted to devote all her time to her two baby boys. She was the consummate mother. As the boys got a little older, she became deeply involved in volunteer work using her aquatics expertise to teach in a variety of programs includingfearful swimming for adults and the summer swim program forkids. Once the boys were in school, she obtained a job at the College's campus school where she taught Health Education, Physical Education and even served as the school "nurse" for a while. When the campus school closed, Nancy reinvented herself by taking advantage of her long-standing math skills and love of the subject. She pursued teaching certification in math and in the process ended with having at least five different teaching certifications and competence in computer programming. After filling a one-year-leave position in Homer she started her long teaching career at the Cortland Junior Senior High School. She was so happy teaching middle school math and adored the kids. In retirement she regularly encountered past students who always had positive comments about her teaching and recalled some of the fun things they remembered from her classes. She loved teaching at Cortland, was known for her early morning arrivals and late afternoon departures and enjoyed assisting in the early days of the girl’s lacrosse program. She was so very proud when she received the Peer Teaching Award in recognition of her work at the school. Nancy retired early to help her mother deal with some health problems and an unexpected benefit of the early retirement was that she had new found time to spend on activities she enjoyed. She loved birding, travel, theater, gardening, visiting her boys' families, ice hockey and spending time with her beloved grandchildren. She treasured the time with her grandchildren and loved telling anyone who would listen about their academic, athletic and theatrical successes. She was full of life, gratitude and caring. Nancy's legacy of educational commitment, cheerfulness, friendliness, charity, and devotion to family will be fondly remembered by all who were fortunate to have known her. She will be deeply and forever missed by her family. Nancy was preceded in death by her parents John Coble and Dorothy Gollam Coble. She is survived by her husband Joseph; Sons Joseph (Natalie Ponder) and Matthew (Stephanie Goff); her brother Tom (Susan Rathfon); sisters-in-law Bernadette, Frances, Gloria, Terry and Susan; brothers-in-law Frank G, Felix, Tom, and Frank V; grandchildren Mia, James and Henry; and numerous nieces and nephews. Nancy loved and was devoted to her big family. There will be a service at Grace and Holy Spirt Church in Cortland on Saturday, February 22, at 10:00 AM. Donations in Nancy’s memory can be made to Lime Hollow Nature Center and the Cortland Free Library. Arrangements are under the direction of Riccardi Funeral Home, Cortland, N.Y. www.riccardifuneralhome.com

Mrs. Nancy Jean Coble Governali

June 28, 1943 - January 10, 2025