Nancy Sanderson Winfrey, owner and publisher of The Pamlico News for more than 30 years, died peacefully Saturday afternoon at her home on Freemason Street in Oriental. Family members and friends were at her bedside. Winfrey, known affectionately as Miss Nancy, battled a form of leukemia for more than a year.
Originally Raleigh residents, she and her husband, Henry, purchased the newspaper in 1977. Before that, the couple and their four children -- Sallie, Frieda, Gray, and Sanderson (“Sandy”) -- had been part-timers in Pamlico County since 1970, after acquiring the old post office building on Broad Street in Oriental. The location has since become the editorial offices of the newspaper.
Ms. Nancy wrote and edited the immensely popular ‘Kitchen Chatter Column,’ which remains a requested feature of the weekly newspaper. She also authored On Both Sides of the River, an anthology of her human interest stories -- written as a correspondent for the paper. She was a prolific gardener until well into her 70s, cheerfully mowing her own yard, and the lawns of others.
At her desk mere inches from the front door, Ms. Nancy was a warm and congenial greeter of all those who visited the newspaper. She excelled as a mother, and over the years became one of the best-known and most beloved members of our small, close-knit community.
Arrangements for her funeral remain incomplete. The Nov. 19 issue of The Pamlico News will be dedicated to her memory
(Source: The Pamlico News - November 16, 2008)
