Nancy Kathryn Collins Hudnell

Nancy Kathryn Collins Hudnell, 65, of Aurora passed away Sunday, March 31, 2024, at home.

Nancy was born in Evansville, IN, June 21, 1958, to Elmer Jr. & Alice Collins. She graduated from Pamlico County High School in 1976 and resided in Aurora for over 43 years. She worked with Food Lion as the produce manager for 14 years before working the last 17 years at Walmart where she served many associate positions such as loss prevention asset associate, produce and jewelry manager, and zone managers for both fresh groceries and soft lines. A woman of faith, she has been a member of Edward Christian Church for over 10 years.

When she wasn’t working, she enjoyed diamond art, ceramics, and “getting on Jack’s nerves”. She survived colorectal cancer in 2004, the survived kidney cancer in 2023 at which time she found out she also had lung cancer which she was unable to defeat.

She was preceded in death by her parents; siblings, Carolyn Pitman (Mitchell), Frank Collins; and Charlotte Hunnings; her brother-in-law, Gene Lee; and grandson, Joshua Pace.

Those left to cherish her memory are her husband, Jack Hudnell; children, Kristi Rahn (Aaron Searles), Jackie Jones (Ray), Crystal Hudnell, Dale Hudnell (Stephanie Wall), and son of the heart, James “Piggie” Banks II; sisters, Janet Dixon (Dalton) and Maxine Lee; brother, Nathan Collins (Lynn); sister-in-law, Pam Collins; and brother-in-law, Bill Hunnings; grandchildren, Randy Damas, Dustin Jones (Brittany), Brittany Jones, Casper Jones (Brittani), Jasmine Jones (Hayden), Michael Toler (Hannah), Trey Banks, Nevaeh Gibbs, David Searles, Daniel Searles, Aaralyn Searles, Stephanie Bonner (Josh), Alandria Lozica, Chezney Naglee (Ben), and Christina Dillow; great-grandchildren, Elijah White, Bryson Jones, Georgia Toler, Aubrey Bonner, Kinsley Bonner and Devyn Naglee.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Edward Christian Church. The family will receive friends and relatives one hour prior to the service at the church.

The family wishes to thank the doctors who were there through the end. Dr. John M. Cho and Dr. Jennifer Aron of Cancer Center of New Bern, Dr. Samuel J. Dail of New Bern Family Practice, Dr. Adam B. McKenize of New Bern Internal Medicine, the nurses with 3HC Hospice; and anyone else who took time out of their day to help.

A special thanks also to the staff at Walmart in Grantsboro for all of the kind words and prayers throughout her battle as well as the generous gifts and loving support.

From Nancy, “A very special thanks to my dear friend, Judy Hudnell. Thank you for all the time you took out of your day on a daily basis to come sit with me, clean my house, run my errands and most importantly being a good listening ear. You mean so much to me and I’m thankful to God for you every day.”

In lieu of flowers the family suggested memorial contributions be made to Edward Christian Church, 23 Academy St. PO Box 67, Edward, NC 27821.